Malfoy and Miller pt4
by infallible.ink
Summary: Active in their sides of the war, Draco and Brooke skip out on their last year at Hogwarts.  After discovering Draco's intent to kill Dumbledore and herself, Brooke is determined to bring down Voldemort and the Malfoys once and for all.  4th of series.  Corresponds with The Deathly Hallows  7.  Has not been updated yet.
1. Wanting To Forget

_Tell me that it's worth it_  
_ 'Cause I'm doing all I can to fight it_  
_ And I've never been this scared_  
_ And my moment's finally here_

_I'm ready to give this all I have_

_'Cause I'm standing here alone_  
_ Trying to make this life my own_  
_ And nothing will keep this heart from beating_  
_ I'm still breathing_

_Where do we all find love?_

_Promise me some dignity_  
_ If I were to stand and die here_  
_ 'Cause my heart is somewhere else_  
_ It's a pain I've never felt_

**[Still Breathing by Mayday Parade]**

* * *

The night glared black with no specks of light peeking in the skies except a red glow waving in the distance behind them. He didn't know where he was going, past the brushes of trees, through the damp dirt hardening on the bottom of his shoes, it didn't matter. Draco ran, letting himself follow the black robes of Snape and Aunt Bellatrix lead the way.

His pale fists tore through the cold air, shakily clutching onto his wand. What had he done?

They ran and ran until, out of nowhere, someone took his arm and the dark Hogwarts grounds blurred in front of him.

Draco's legs collapsed beneath him and hit the dew covered grass. They arrived at the manor, just outside of their pearl gilded gates and the peacocks lazily skulking around inside them.

Each one slowly turned its head at the late night visitors, their bright luminous eyes staring as if to ask what was the purpose of their late night disturbance.

Draco turned away from their accusing stares and let his gaze fall to the ground.

"What is the meaning of this?" said a voice.

The light switched on and showed his father and mother coming down the stairs.

"Draco!" his mother rushed to hug him.

Comfort only made him stiffer, more repulsed at himself and what he had just done.

This, what they called, "accomplishment" was over and the entire conversation passed by his ears and thoughts so quickly that Draco soon found himself in his room.

With eyes heavy and every limb almost pulsing with the need for sleep, he sat at the edge of his bed and stared out at the black sky.

Four seventeen in the morning and yet again, Draco woke up, wiping the cold sweat at his hairline from what seemed like a horrid curse. He almost didn't mind the recurring and reliving nightmares that happened every night this summer so far. They were his punishment.

Each time, he uttered the same damned curse. He'd watch it, feeling satisfied when it struck her, when it knocked her down and killed Brooke Miller.

Getting up from the bed, Draco moved to the balcony. The bulge in his pocket reminded him of the annoying question posed since the top of the Astronomy tower. Draco took out the small bag and held the golden locket, letting it hang and twist in front of him.

The old man probably hoped giving it to him would spare his life.

Draco would have like to believe this, but he still found himself trying to connect the pieces as if the answer led back to her.

Maybe Dumbledore knew Draco was going to kill her. Tossing him the locket was a warning and an attempt to stop him, but he didn't.

"We'll go to Diagon Alley tomorrow for your school things?" his mother asked one morning at breakfast.

"I'm not going," replied Draco.

"You need fresh air, Draco," she said.

"I'm not going back to Hogwarts," he restated.

There was a scrape of fork against plate.

"Pardon me?"

"I'm not going back there," Draco repeated.

"What do you mean you're not going back?" his mother hissed, leaning forward. "Do you know what they are planning to do with this house?"

Of course he knew. Anyone residing in the household would know from the constant boasting from his father of how the Dark Lord designated the manor as headquarters.

"There is no reason for you not to go to school, Draco," she continued, "It will be safer there and with Severus in charge, there is nothing to worry about."

"I don't care," he said. "I'm not going."

His mother sighed stiffly. "I will speak with your father about this," she said, meaning for it to be a threat.

Draco stood up from the table and walked away.

/

One sugar cube dropped in the cup and she stirred. Then she dropped a couple more in and watched them dissolve.

Yawning, Brooke stretched her arms in front of her. After a month staying at Hermione's, she expected herself to be used to waking up as early as seven in the morning on a summer day.

The primary reason for her stay had been for the relocation of her mother, sister, brother in law and nephew. With the Ministry failing and beginning to be corrupted by Death Eaters, the Order decided to act quickly and relocate them elsewhere. Brooke only had a couple days at home before Mr. Weasley and Kingley showed up at the front door. They explained that although the location was under the Ministry in America, the Ministry in Britain still had files on their case and could easily access that information.

Thankfully, the move wasn't as big as leaving the country, however Brooke couldn't help but feel the twinge of guilt.

The second reason being at the Grangers' was for Hermione.

"So are you going to go through with it?" asked Brooke once Hermione sat back in her seat.

"Yes, I think so," she said regrettably. "It's the only foolproof way I can think of."

Mr. Weasley and Kingsley had also shown up at Hermione's.

Although a plan well thought of in the past two weeks had been set in Hermione's mind, not at all was she enthusiastic to pull through with it.

"What if I cast something wrong?" asked Hermione, anxiously staring into her lukewarm tea. "Or I can't reverse it?"

"Well, what if you don't do it at all?" replied Brooke.

Hermione groaned. "Oooh, I know, I know!"

The same conversation occurred multiple times in slightly different varieties until just before the month of August. It was time for them to leave and be at the Burrow the next day.

"Ready to say goodbye?" Brooke asked with their bags all piled in one place.

Nodding, Hermione held her wand in both hands nervously and went into the kitchen, where her mother and father sat for their usual morning breakfast.

To be polite, Brooke walked in the opposite direction, and settled for a spot next to the window.

Maybe it wasn't a big of a shock to leave her family since Brooke's had to be incognito for half of last year anyway. Hermione, however, was taking this much worse and it was understandable. The effects of the wizard world hadn't chanced to impact her parents until this very moment.

She had come back with a guilty expression.

"They just left for their flight," she said, sniffling, "I just need to grab one more thing."

Coming down from the stairs, Hermione placed the small beaded purse in her hands inside the last bit of space in her luggage.

This time, only Mr. Weasley was standing the nearest street corner, ready to apparate them to the Burrow. It looked the same with its high wooden walls, its slightly crooked standing and the dimly lit windows, however inside was more solemn than she remembered.

Mrs. Weasley was still cooking like mad in the kitchens, but she had a permanent shadow of worry upon her face, as did everyone. The night they planned to fly to Little Whinging, people in the Order arrived slowly, so as to not draw too much attention.

They left the same way they came. By twos and a pair every one minute in different directions. She got onto the broom and held onto Ron's brother Charlie for dear life. Flying wasn't a problem. Flying while another person controlled the way was another thing.

Soon, they landed in a quiet neighborhood nearby Tonks, Ron, Mr. Weasley, Fred, Moody and Mundungus. Quietly, the group waited until Kingsley, Hermione, Lupin, George, Bill and Fleur arrived. Another five minutes passed before they walked up to the back door to see Harry.

Immediately, she, Ron, and Hermione flung their arms around him and the elated greetings moved on into the kitchen.

With the extra inch taller and some peculiar change in his face, he looked older, especially now with the house to himself.

"How're you doing, mate?" said Ron, his hand on Harry's shoulder. Despite Harry's growth, Ron still had a couple inches over him.

"Great," he smiled, "I didn't realize all of you were coming."

"Well, of course we would," she said, "We all wanted to come and see you."

"Among other things," included Hermione.

"Alright, alright, we'll have time for a cozy catch-up later!" roared Moody over the chatter. "As Dedalus probably told you, we had to abandon Plan A. So we're going to use the only means of transport left to us: brooms, thestrals, and Hagrid's motorbike."

"…Fourteen of us flying to Tonks's parents'?" Harry said skeptically.

"Ah, I forgot to mention the key point. There will be seven Harry Potters moving through the skies tonight, each of them with a companion, each pair heading for a different safe house." Moody, then, took out the flask filled with Polyjuice Potion.

"No!" Harry said loudly. "No way!"

"I told them you'd take it like this," said Hermione.

"If you think I'm going to let six people risk their lives-" "-because it's the first time for all of us," smiled Ron.

"This is different, pretending to be me-"

"Everyone here's overage, Potter, and they're all prepared to take the risk," growled Moody.

Brooke was more than willing to take the risk. After the previous year, she decided that there is only one thing she would be satisfied doing and it wasn't sitting around Hogwarts. Helping Harry became her first priority.

After minutes of rushed persuasion, it finally occurred to Harry that Moody's plan was the only way any of the fourteen of them would take him safely to the Burrow.

Taking the glass of golden liquid, Brooke chugged the warm, almost sweet contents. Immediately she felt her skin start to mold out of shape to let her arms grow bigger and her legs get longer. Her scalp felt pressured like a headache, but saw that her dark hair was growing backwards. It wasn't long before she saw Harry staring back at her through the reflection on the kitchen counter.

"You don't look so great in this sweater, Harry," she joked. He only looked mildly amused behind the uncertainty he took to the plan.

"You guys don't have to do this," he said to her. "There are a million things that could go wrong."

"Which is why we need to do this," she replied, grabbing the backpack with better fitting clothes. "If this is what it takes for you to make it out of this place with us, then that's what we have to do."

After she, Ron, Hermione, Fleur, Fred, George, and Mundungus became convincing Harry Potters, they got into their pairs and prepared to take off.

"You good to go back there?" asked Charlie.

"Yep," she nodded, holding on tight around his waist and hoping the extra weight wouldn't make it easier to fall off the broom.

"Good luck, everyone," shouted Moody. "See you all in about an hour at the Burrow. On the count of three. One…two…three!"

Kicking off the ground, they sped up into the air, heading straight towards the Burrow. Since Charlie spent the majority of his time in Romania, knowing directions in England wasn't the best of his abilities. Rather, flying was his charm.

Before they could speed off as fast as they came, about thirty hooded figures had surrounded them.

"What?" she said breathlessly.

Without a word, Charlie swerved and flew as fast as he could, avoiding the shower of green light. She didn't even bother looking back. Her eyes automatically scanned for clear pathways and routes to avoid the Death Eaters, while her arms held on tighter.

A black figure swooped in front of them.

"Stupefy!" she yelled in Harry's voice and the Death Eater lost balance on his broom to avoid the spell. It occurred to her that with both the Death Eater and her own disguise, it could be anyone underneath that hood.

There was only one more Death Eater trailing after them. Brooke almost didn't want to shoot spells and instead, simply reach out to take their mask off. All she needed to do was a summoning spell.

Shaking her head, she knew she couldn't be distracted.

"Hold on!" shouted Charlie.

They sped up even more until the city below became a glowing blur. The side of the bridge approached faster and faster. She hoped Charlie could even see the part of the bridge within the darkness.

Suddenly, they jerked to the right and heard a painful clang of flesh on metal.

The others were out of sight and the two decided it would be best to keep pushing for the Burrow.

She breathed out as she saw Hagrid towering amongst a smaller group of people. Once their feet touched the ground, Lupin grabbed her by the neck of her sweater. By now the Polyjuice Potion had worn off and it hung past her waist.

"What animal can you transfigure into!" he yelled.

"A-a tiger," she said, startled.

"Show me!"

Unsure of her concentration at the time, Brooke easily transfigured and shook herself off from his grip.

Lupin sighed.

"What in the bloody hell was that all about?" asked Charlie.

"I'm sorry," said Lupin, "but someone must have betrayed us. They knew we were transporting Harry on this very night."

"Harry!" she exclaimed and threw her arms around him. "Where's everyone else?"

"This is everyone," he said solemnly. "Except George's inside. He's…"

Brooke frowned.

"Wait, what? What's happened to George?" Charlie asked, rushing to inside the Burrow while the rest followed.

Mrs. Weasley was busy, kneeling at the couch. Brooke could make out the red hair and the bloody mess being cleaned up.

"He'll be fine, just lost an ear," she sniffed with her hands shaking. "Oh, Charlie. Thank goodness there's not a scratch on you."

Another thump on the ground outside, and the seven of them, including Ginny, ran out to the front of the house to see Hermione and Kingsley.

Hermione shakily, but gratefully slid off of the thestral and ran towards them.

"Are the rest of them inside? Where's Ron?" she asked, peering behind them.

"You guys came just after us," replied Brooke.

"The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us?" said Kingsley with his wand pointed between Lupin's eyes.

"'Harry is the best hope we have. Trust him,'" spoke Lupin.

Convinced, Kingsley stashed his wand back into his robes.

"Well somebody gave us away. They knew, they knew it was tonight!"

"So it seems," replied Lupin, "but apparently they did not realize that there would be seven Harry's."

"And You-Know-Who was there, too. As with Snape," added Kingsley.

"Snape?" shouted Harry. "You didn't say-"

"Lost his hood during the chase. Sectumsempra was always a specialty of Snape's."

Brooke gulped, trying to repress her curious thoughts. She turned her eyes toward the sky, waiting for any sign the others were still alive.

"Give us a hand, Harry?" called Hagrid from the door.

With Kingsley, Lupin and George in a whispered conversation a few feet away, she and Hermione stood silently.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"Hm?" Brooke blinked. "Oh, of course."

"There were a lot of Death Eaters surrounding us," said Hermione. "Do you think…do you think Draco was there too?"

A lurch in her stomach made her think she was about to throw up at the sound of his name. Brooke hadn't heard it out loud all summer. But the idea occurred to her the second she realized they were Death Eaters.

Brooke shrugged and walked back into the Burrow.

A crunch on the grass told her another pair survived.

"I'll prove who I am, Kingsley, after I've seen my son, now back off if you know what's good for you!"

Mr. Weasley stormed past Kingsley and Lupin with Fred following quickly after him. Leaving the Weasleys alone, Brooke leaned on the side of the door.

A couple feet away from her, Hermione stared distantly at the huddle of red hair around George. Although Hermione was concerned about George as well, Brooke knew she couldn't help but thinking about where Ron was.

"Hermione," she said suddenly, staring at the broom heading towards the ground.

"It's them!" she yelled and rushed out the door.

Tonks and Ron landed, looking tired and ruffled, but alright nonetheless. Hermione flung her arms around Ron.

"You're okay," mumbled Harry, smiling feebly.

"I thought-" gasped Hermione, slightly muffled by Ron's shoulder.

"M'all right," said Ron, patting her on the back. "M'fine."

Brooke smiled at him, relieved.

Their reunion was cut short when a thestral's cry moved their attention on Bill and Fleur's much delayed arrival. Fleur's silvery hair was frizzed in a couple places and her face looked tear stricken and shocked.

"Bill! Thank God, thank God-" called Mrs. Weasley, grasping her son.

"Mad-Eye's dead," he said stiffly to his father.

Silence wiped across them immediately, wondering whether they had heard him correctly. It began to feel more real than Brooke had wanted. She'd been focused all summer, practicing her Animagus and even looking through some of the spell books Hermione had around her house, almost excited for what they would be doing.

Only now did the reality of the situation hit her. George had his ear blown off.

And Mad-Eye was dead.

* * *

**A/N: **Hi! I know it's been so longg. My month long break turned into 3 months. I'm so sorry! But hopefully, I can get in the chapters quickly. This first chapter wasn't my favorite, I have to admit, because it's quite in line with J.'s book (to whom, I give full credit to except Brooke Miller). But I promise promise promise that this last book is quite different than what I've written before and focuses heavily on Brooke and Draco rather than Harry's quest and the Deathly Hallows.

Anyway, please review. It doesn't have to be about this chapter specifically, just about the characters, or expectations or past stories. Please review, it helps me to see if people are actually reading or not. :) Thanks! 3


	2. Bill and Fleur's Wedding

_And I don't know_  
_ This could break my heart or save me_  
_ Nothing's real_  
_ Until you let go completely_  
_ So here I go with all my thoughts I've been saving_  
_ So here I go with all my fears weighing on me_

_No comparing, second guessing, no not this time_

_Three months and I'm still sober_  
_Three months and I'm getting better yeah_

_ Three months and it's still harder now_

_Three months I've been living here without you now_

_Three months and I still remember it_

_Been a long road since those hands I left my tears in but I know_  
_ It's never really over, no_

**[Sober by Kelly Clarkson]**_  
_

* * *

Over the next couple of days, the solemnity of a funeral mixed in with the excitement of a wedding. It was amazing to her that even as she, Harry, Ron and Hermione planned the destruction of Voldemort, there could be something as beautiful as a marriage.

One afternoon, after they helped Mrs. Weasley prepare lunch, the door opened for Mr. Weasley coming home from work. Unlike normal, however, a large man with large amounts of graying hair stood behind him.

"Hello Arthur," Mrs. Weasley kissed him on the cheek and then stared surprisingly at the man following. "Oh! Minister, we weren't…expecting you."

She and Mr. Weasley exchanged quick glances.

"I need to speak with Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger and Ms. Miller," Rufus Scrimageour stepped inside.

The four of them furrowed their eyebrows and stared at the Minister of Magic in hopes to predict what it was all about.

They followed him into the sitting room and squeezed on the couch, wondering what had been so important to come unannounced and why Brooke, Ron and Hermione were involved in any of it.

"I am here, as I'm sure you know, because of Albus Dumbledore's will," said Scrimgeour.

Brooke's eyebrows furrowed, sharing the same surprise as her friends.

"You were not aware then that Dumbledore had left you anything?"

"A-all of us?" said Ron.

"Yes, all of you," he replied. "Now then, we'll start with Brooke Miller and if you wouldn't mind waiting upstairs," he gestured for Harry, Ron and Hermione to leave.

Hesitant at first, the three left, glancing back at her.

Brooke fidgeted a bit on the couch while Scrimgeour took out a long scroll of parchment, browsing through its contents until one of the very last sections.

"Ah, here we are- _To Brooke Miller, I leave '_Professional Transfiguration' by Emeric Switch_ in the hopes that it will help her develop her capabilities. I also hope to remind her to trust in herself and to also find trust in unexpected places_."

Her eyes looked upon the thin golden book. It's covers looked untouched, the backbone unbroken and as if the pages were half as thick as normal parchment. Scrimgeour held it with both hands, with more strength than the book's appearance led to believe.

"We've tested the book for any signs of tampering," he explained, examining it in his hands. "And its seems to be a simple book."

"Why did you feel the need to search it?" asked Brooke, feeling an increasing resentment towards the Ministry for invading any kind of privacy.

"It was necessary," he said flatly. "Do you have any reason as to why Dumbledore would give you this particular item?"

"Is it even legal- or not just legal, but ethical to thoroughly search personal items?" Brooke pressed the issue.

"Ms. Miller, time is of the essence," he replied, holding onto his patience. "If you would please-"

"I'm sorry, Minister, but I just don't see-"

"Wills are dealt within in the Ministry, therefore we have the right to do what we please with the items. They are no longer personal when the person is deceased; they are in possession of the Ministry until it reaches the receivers hands," Scrimgeour said impatiently and took a breath. "Now, why do you think Dumbledore would have given you this particular book?"

Wishing to anger the Minister no longer, Brooke folded her arms and leaned back in her seat.

"Well, I do have an interest in Transfiguration and seeing as you've done quite a bit of research on its relation to me, I'm sure you know that I'm an Animagus," she replied tartly.

He frowning at her subtle animosity. "I was merely curious as to why Albus Dumbledore would leave possessions to you four out of the many students he's taught."

"To be honest, Minister, there's not many Animagi that come into Hogwarts."

Attempting to read her expression, Scrimgeour handed the Transfiguration book to her. It sat heavier than expected in her hands and Brooke was happy to leave the room, curious to see what its contents read.

Just as she turned the corner, Harry, Ron and Hermione stood, listening intently to what was happening in the sitting room. Before walking leaving the four, Hermione's eyes questioned her when Brooke held up the book.

"What's in there?" whispered Ron.

"I'm not sure," murmured Brooke. Opening the book, the pages were as smooth and light as it could be. It was just that, however. A Transfiguration book. Half of her expected some clue or secret message to pop from within its contents.

Twenty minutes later, Scrimgeour left, bidding them a stiff goodbye. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Brooke glared at the man, holding Dumbledore's items.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were at the foot of the door and asked what happened without any hesitation. They showed them the Transfiguration book, Ron's Deluminator, Hermione's _Tales of Beetle and the Bard, _and Harry's snitch.

To all the questions and discussion on the table with the Weasleys, they dared not to fully say everything that popped into their minds until it was only Harry, Ron, Hermione and Brooke upstairs in the room.

The book was self explanatory. Brooke loved Transfiguration and Dumbledore did think she was talented, however, she tried deciphering Dumbledore's message more than the item.

"'…I also hope to remind her to trust in herself and to also find trust in unexpected places,'" she said aloud.

It didn't quite make sense to pair his advice to a simple Transfiguration book.

She thought that the Bill and Fleur's wedding was even more of a treasure in that situation. It was reassuring to know that some love could withstand the war. Brooke made sure both she and Hermione went shopping before leaving to the Burrow, just for this occasion.

Brooke stood in front of the bathroom mirror, taking her time putting on makeup to match her deep green dress.

Donning her own lilac colored dress, Hermione rushed in, carrying the small beaded purse she'd finished packing just that morning.

"You're going to carry that thing all day?" asked Brooke.

"Well, yes," she replied. "It has everything we need, I think, unless you need to add a couple more of your things."

"I put it all in there a little while ago. Don't you think you'll get tired lugging it around? I'm sure it weighs tons by now."

"I've added an anti-weight charm to it," said Hermione, tossing the bag in the air.

The night they arrived at the Burrow, Hermione took it out of her bag and told Brooke how she charmed it to hold almost as much as five luggages. She had already placed in notes and textbooks to help them, leaving just enough room for clothes for all four them.

The two of them hurried off to help Fleur get ready and to neither of their surprise, she'd become a bossy bride. Brooke had to run down three flights of stairs back and forth for fire whiskey and constantly checking whether or not the ceremony was getting smoothly prepared for.

Afterwards, she and Hermione went to find Ron and Harry, who was now in disguise as Ron's "cousin Barny."

"You look great!" said Ron, wide-eyed at Hermione.

"And you look different," said Brooke, smirking at Harry's new red haired appearance.

Someone cleared his throat behind them.

"Viktor!" shrieked Hermione, dropping her beaded bag with a rather large thump.

Tall and burly, Viktor Krum picked up her bag and handed it to her. "You look vunderful."

While Hermione looked flustered, Ron began to turn a shade of red with his jaw clenched.

"I didn't know you were- goodness- it's lovely to see- how are you?"

"What are you doing here?" he asked loudly.

"Fleur invited me," Viktor replied, handing him his invitation. "And how are you, Brooke?"

"I'm good," she lied, shaking his hand. Despite her love for weddings, it felt like she'd been having a stomach ache all day.

Harry greeted Viktor as Ron's cousin and helped him to his seat.

Once the guests were seated, Fred and George joined them in the second row for the ceremony.

The band began to play a light airy tune and the doors opened to reveal the wedding court with bridesmaids and groomsmen first. The music swelled and Ginny and Gabrielle were at the front, marching a few feet ahead of Fleur and her parents. Although Brooke had seen Fleur just a while ago, the light outside highlighted her shiny hair and the white gown hugging her body until it reached the poof at her waist.

Seeing her and Bill up at the altar, smiling at each other and almost having their own silent conversation with their stares, tore Brooke's emotions into two opposite sides. She couldn't be happier for them. And she couldn't help but torture herself with the thought of Draco Malfoy.

How she looked at him the same way Fleur was looking at Bill, or when they sat out on the castle grounds together, just talking. All of that was ruined with the fact that he tried to kill her. That he tricked her, leaving the guilt of betraying her friends to rot and grow inside her. She couldn't even blame him as much as she should. Brooke could have seen it all coming.

"Do you, William Arthur Weasley, take Fleur Isabelle Delacour…?"

Brooke closed her eyes.

"I do."

She opened them to see the almost married couple beaming at each other.

"And do you, Fleur Isabelle Delacour, take William Arthur Weasley…?"

As if it were as easy as asking a question.

"I do."

"Then I declare you bonded for life."

They clapped and cheered as the newlyweds wrapped around each other underneath the shower of silver stars. The golden balloons burst, letting loose the dazzle of birds and golden bells into the skies.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you would please stand up!" called the wizard heading the ceremony.

Their seats vanished and a large canopy with golden poles appeared and floated down above them while a golden dance floor melted across the center. White clothed tables and chairs filled the remaining space and the guests scattered to find a place to sit or meet up with relatives.

They found Luna sitting at a table by herself and decided to give her some company.

"All right if we join you?" asked Ron.

"Oh yes," she said happily. "Daddy's just gone to give Bill and Fleur our present."

Soon, Luna found her way to the dance floor, swaying slowly. Ron and Hermione had soon followed her, dancing together, once Viktor sat down at their table. Brooke lost him and Harry in their conversation, feeling distracted and dazed.

The sun began to set as Ron and Hermione came back and forth from the dance floor, stopping sometimes for a drink or to persuade Brooke to join them. She declined, not wanting to be a third wheel and harp on what she hoped was a blooming romance. Harry, on the other hand got lost in the guests after speaking with Krum.

"Excuse me," someone came up to her, bending their head to catch her distant gaze.

"Hm?"

Brooke snapped out of it and looked up. A gangly boy about her age with Weasley red hair and a pleasant smile stood in front of her.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked, holding his hand out.

About to decline, Hermione caught her eye from the dance floor and nodded furiously.

"Erm, sure," Brooke replied. Her hand felt on the bridge of recoiling once she took his own hand.

"I'm Kendall Weasley, by the way. Bill's younger cousin. Are you a friend of Fleur's?"

"No, I'm a friend of Ron's," she nodded towards him. "Brooke Miller." "Well Brooke Miller, I should visit more often," he said. "I would've known about you sooner."

She smiled.

He led her to the dance floor.

"So you're Ron's friend."

"Yeah, from Hogwarts," replied Brooke, standing an arms length apart from him.

"Ah, I see," Kendall nodded. "It's a shame I didn't go there."

"That's too bad. It's a nice place," she said.

"Maybe I'll visit sometime," he smiled.

"Oh? Are you done with school?"

He nodded happily. "Just finished. And you're a seventh year, right? Like Ron?"

"Mhm," she said. Some part of her wished she could go back to finish, to be surrounded by the familiarity and safety of the school. But now it was impossible. Without Dumbledore, the school wasn't the same.

After a couple songs, Brooke said she was going to talk a bit with Luna, who was back at her seat, sipping her drink alone. Waving, Brooke sat down.

"Why aren't you dancing with your new friend? This song is so lovely," said Luna, dreamily.

"It's a slow song," said Brooke. "They're boring, I guess." Truthfully, she didn't feel like dancing at all. Kendall was a refreshing person to meet, but a melancholy mood draped around her, so much that she couldn't pretend anymore.

"I don't think so, they're quite nice," Luna tilted her head. "Is it because you don't want to slow dance with anyone but Draco Malfoy?"

Brooke was taken aback and raised her eyebrows. "Erm."

Luna waited for an answer, listening intently with her wide curious eyes.

"Yeah," said Brooke. "Yeah, I guess I kind of miss him."

"Well, that makes sense. It was terrible what they tried to make him do last year."

She smiled bitterly and shook her head. "They didn't force him."

"Sure they did," Luna said, putting down her glass. "He wasn't very nice to me, but if you thought he was nice enough to talk to, I don't think he would do something like that on purpose."

"That's what I thought too," said Brooke, staring at Luna's empty drink and its odd reflections of the people dancing behind her. "Until…"

If it had been any other day, Brooke would have excused herself and ran off to go running around the Burrow in her Animagus, but Fleur would have just about killed her if she scared her guests like that. Instead, Brooke mumbled something about the bathroom and walked to the edge of the party, where there was less people lingering in the tables.

"Firewhisky?" a waiter came up to her with a tray of shot glasses.

"Thank you," she said, taking one of them.

Downing it one quick gulp, she winced at the burn and remembered why she hated firewhisky.

"Hey," another red haired boy came up to her. "You alright?"

"Erm,"

"It's me, Harry."

"Oh, right. I'm fine," she replied, putting down the glass at the nearest table. "Just tired, I suppose. Having fun?"

"Sort of," he said, sounding rushed. "I just found out that the Dumbledores lived right in Godric's Hollow. Same with Bathilda Bagshot." "Really? You'd think he'd say something about that. Come to think of it, I've never even thought about Dumbledore's childhood."

"Me neither," replied Harry. "If we could just stop by there, maybe-"

His sentence was cut short by a tall boy with silvery blonde hair. The darkness led her to see someone else and nearly gave her a heart attack, however, a second glance revealed a pair broad shoulders and a strong jaw line.

"Hi, I'm Aldrin and I don't mean to interrupt, but I was wondering if you'd like to dance?" he asked Brooke.

"I- er. I've already- you see- He's already asked me to dance," Brooke grabbed Harry's arm. "I'm terribly sorry, but later perhaps."

Walking towards the dance floor, she placed her hands on the back of his neck.

Harry put his hands around her waist and they swayed to the music.

"Sorry, Harry," she sighed, watching the boy walk back to his table, discouraged. "I'm just not in the mood for any of Ron's cousins or Fleur's nephews."

"No problem," he laughed. "Seems like you're popular tonight. Even Krum was asking me if you were free."

Brooke smiled politely. "Really? Well, don't get me wrong, they're all quite fanciable, but I just…I don't know."

"Not ready to go back to that yet? I know what you mean," said Harry, glancing at Ginny's table, who was starting to flock the Delacour boys.

"Bet you feel like punching them in face," said Brooke.

"Can't though," he said quietly. "I just wish we'd been together earlier…or later even, so all this would be over."

"Yeah."

She moved closer to him, so that it was easier to rest her arms on his shoulders and it occurred to her that a couple years ago, she had chosen her stronger feelings for Malfoy rather than the ones for Harry. For a moment, Brooke wondered what it would have been like if things had taken a different course. Perhaps the two wouldn't be heartbroken friends, dancing with each other to replace the ones they really wanted. Maybe they would have looked like Ron and Hermione, who were laughing with each other in a quiet conversation on the dance floor.

The band played a sour note and the loud chatter suddenly silenced to watch the large, gleaming lynx set upon the middle of the dance floor. The patronus opened wide and spoke in Kingley Shacklebot's deep voice.

"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

Then, it vanished.

* * *

**A/N: Hi again :D Thanks for your reading, reviews, alerts and all! Keep on doing so, especially reviewing since I love reading them and seeing what you think of the story so far :) Oh and sorry for the generic "Chapter 1" title for the last chapter. I completely forgot :O  
**


	3. Preparations in Number Twelve

_Make it a sweet, sweet goodbye - _  
_ it could be for the last time and it's not right. _  
_ "Don't let yourself get in over your head," he said. _  
_ Alone and far from home we'll find you..._

_Dead - Like a candle you burned out; _  
_ spill the wax over the spaces left in place of angry words._  
_ Scream - To be heard, like you needed any more attention; _  
_ throw the bottle, break the door, and disappear._

_Forever's never seemed so long as when you're not around _  
_ it's like a piece of me is missing._

_Can't you see there should have been a happy ending we let go?_

_Sing me to sleep, I'll see you in my dreams, _  
_ waiting to say, "I miss you. I'm so sorry."_

**[Lullabies by All Time Low]**

* * *

Staring at Harry, they immediately caught eyes with Ron and Hermione. The next second, their wands were drawn.

Someone screamed.

Panic spread over the crowd and the four of them fought through the guests running left and right, trying to disapparate as quickly as they found their families.

Hermione lurched for her arm and turned. They apparated away from the Burrow, barely missing the spectacle of black hooded figures swooping upon the party.

"Where are we?" said Ron.

A different set of moving people surrounded them and instead of a country side, buildings stood in their sight.

"Tottenham Court Road," panted Hermione. "Walk, just walk, we need to find somewhere for you to change."

"We haven't got anything to change for," said Ron.

Hermione handed him her beaded purse. "I've already packed a few of our clothes in here along with a couple of other things. Here-"

She headed into a side street and then into a shadowed alleyway.

"Why didn't I make sure I had the Invisibility Cloak with me? I used to have it on me all the time," said Harry.

"It's in there too," said Hermione, checking around the corner to make sure there was no one else around.

"When you say you've got the Cloak, and the clothes…"

"Yep. Undetectable Extension Charm," she explained and pulled out their clothing.

Quickly changing into jeans and sweater, Brooke rolled up her dress and stuffed it back into the purse. They went back onto the main street and found a small empty café to sit for a while and figure out what they were going to do.

They ordered three cappuccinos, since Harry was invisible and the waitress would get suspicious of the extra drink.

"You know, we're not far from the Leaky Cauldron-"

"Ron, we can't!" said Hermione.

"Not to stay there, but to find out what's going on!"

"We know what's going on! Voldemort's taken over the Ministry, what else do we need to know?"

A pair of burly workmen entered the café and sat at a booth nearby.

"What about all the others at the wedding?" asked Ron.

"We can't worry about that now," said Hermione. "They were after Harry. And the Order's there, they'll protect them. We should send them a message."

The two exchanged looks.

She and Hermione had been discussing all aspects of their mission and communication had been the most tricky. The Floo Network, brooms, owls, thestrals and by mouth were much too dangerous.

"We've been trying to do it by Patronus, like what Kingsley just did," said Hermione. "The hard part is sending it towards the specific spot you want it, but I think we have it down." "Well, as long as it doesn't get them into trouble, though they might've been arrested already," said Ron.

Brooke swiveled the murky grey coffee around in her mug mindlessly, a mental video of Luna, Krum, Ginny, Bill, Fleur, Kendrick and all the other guests fighting or trying to escape played in her mind.

The two workmen made a sudden movement and had their wands drawn right at them. Ron lunged across the table to push Hermione out of the spell's way.

"Stupefy!" The table moved where Harry's invisible body was and a jet of light appeared out of what looked like thin air.

It hit the blonde Death Eater straight in the face and he collapsed on the bench. The second, hit Ron with a spell, binding his entire body with a tight black rope. Harry's second stunning spell missed, hitting the waitress walking in from the kitchen door in the back of the café.

"Expulso!" bellowed the Death Eater, and table blew with such force that it lifted her in the air before slamming back onto the floor a couple feet away. Getting up, she dug through the wooden bits and ceramic fragments for her wand.

"Petrificus Totalus!" screamed Hermione from underneath one of the collapsed benches and the Death Eater fell.

She stood up shakily, pushing the bench off of her and hurried to Ron.

"D-diffindo," Hermione said, pointing her wand at Ron, who roared in pain as she slashed open the knee of his jeans, leaving a deep cut. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Ron, my hand's shaking! Diffindo!"

The two Death Eaters laid still, sprawled on the debris. Near them, lay her wand, flown over from the explosion.

"I should've recognized him, he was there the night Dumbledore died," Harry said.

"That's Dolohov," said Ron. "I recognize him from the old wanted posters. I think the big one's Thorfinn Rowle."

Brooke threw a swift, hard kick at the Dolohov, whose eyes bulged.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" asked Ron, startled.

"What?" she looked up at them. "They've had multiple attempts at trying to kill us."

At their staring silence, Brooke continued, "They kill and torture innocent people, wrecking their lives and throwing them all out of order! They've ruined everything and they had to come and ruin the wedding; couldn't help giving us one- day- of- peace!" She emphasized each word with another kick in the stomach.

Panting, she looked at Rowle and by impulse, she grabbed the nearest chair and swung it across his back as hard as she could. Blinking her watering eyes, she felt suddenly weak.

A hand gently rested on her arm.

"Brooke," said Harry.

"They've ruined it, Harry!" she yelled. "Everything is messed up and they've helped do that. At the Department of Mysteries, at Hogwarts, and not to mention he was there when my father died! He's helped killed him, I know it!"

Dolohov's eyes were still plastered onto Brooke, wide and pleading, as if expecting her to burst out at him with a killing curse. If Harry, Ron and Hermione hadn't been there, the thought might have grew into something she actually considered. But, she towered over him, breathing heavily and glaring.

"They're not worth it though, Brooke," said Hermione quietly.

She nodded reluctantly, only now noticing her grip on Harry's hand.

"Let's just erase their memories," suggested Harry. "If we kill them, it'll be obvious we were here."

Hermione, although only practicing a couple days ago, was able to erase both Death Eaters' memories.

They hurriedly, but silently restored the café to its original set up, even placing the Death Eaters in their seats, so as to not give a hint of what happened. As much as Brooke wanted to do more damage to them, she restrained herself from anymore, knowing that it just might give them away.

"Well, now where are we going to go? If they have some kind of trace on Harry, they'll find us sooner or later," said Hermione.

"They can't have done anything to him to keep the trace. Harry hasn't been near a Death Eater in the last twenty four hours," replied Ron.

"We need a safe place to hide," said Hermione.

"Grimmauld Place," said Harry. "Ron's dad said they've put up jinxes against Snape and even if they haven't worked, so what? I swear, I'd like nothing better than to meet Snape!"

Despite Hermione's hesitance, it was the only plan they had.

In a matter of seconds, they appeared at Number twelve and rushed to get inside.

/

"You…don't know?" he hissed at the two Death Eaters.

They kneeled, and in stiff fear, gave the Dark Lord the only answers they could give him.

"No, my Lord. We don't remember a thing," said Rowle dejectedly.

"Draco," the Dark Lord called for him to do it again.

Draco lifted his wand without another second and Rowle writhed in pain on the floor, screaming in agony. It was out of habit that Draco focused his eyes on the tassel edge of the rug.

"More, Rowle, or shall we end it and feed you to Nagini? Lord Voldemort is not sure that he will forgive this time…You called me back for this, to tell me that Harry Potter has escaped again?"

"We are sorry, my Lord," Rowle panted, still wincing.

"Give Rowle another taste of our displeasure, Draco…Do it, or feel my wrath yourself!"

Draco gulped hard and held out his wand.

/

_Introduction_

_Studying Transfiguration Careers_

_Basic Spells for Customization_

_Inanimate Objects_

_Animal Transfiguration_

_Studying Animagus Forms_

_Patronuses and Their Relation to Transfiguration_

_Human Transfiguration_

Brooke scanned the contents page, deciding if she were to fully understand Dumbledore's motives, she would have to start from page one.

Grimmauld Place looked untouched as the Order had left it, except for the frightening jinxes Moody had put up for Snape. A few paces into the hallway and Hermione's scream pierced through her ears and rang in her skull for a couple of seconds. The fake Dumbledore's body gave her both a chill and sudden warmth to numb her cheeks.

After unpacking the millions of books and parchment with notes scribbled on every inch, the four of them decided to call it a night. Brooke, however, tossed and turned until she resorted to the kitchen with her Transfiguration book.

Only at around 3 in the morning, did she feel her body giving into sleep. Even though Brooke still would have liked to keep reading, her eyes couldn't focus any longer. The house seemed to be in its most accommodating time of day, with its pitch black corners creating endless halls and the dusty artifacts moving their long shadows as she walked back to the living room.

Harry was buried in his sleeping bag with only a bit of hair sticking out from the top. Brooke beamed at the dark shapes of Ron and Hermione, loosely connected at the fingers. Once she crawled into her own sleeping bag, the lack of sleep hit her and knocked her out sooner than she expected.

"Brooke," someone shook her, "Brooke, wake up!"

"Hm?" she groaned, turning to see Ron and Hermione, fully awake.

"Harry's gone," Hermione said, worried.

Brooke sat up and looked at the empty sleeping bag next to her.

"He was here a couple hours ago," she said, glancing at the clock. It was only seven o'clock and she thoroughly remembered seeing him before going to bed.

"Not in the kitchen or anything," said Ron, walking towards them.

Standing up, Brooke helped them start searching the house. Nothing could have happened to him, not when all three of them were with him.

"Harry!" called Hermione from the third story.

"Harry!" Ron shouted and echoed from the floor below the living room.

Brooke checked the bathroom and the entrance hall if the worst did happen. The curses weren't broken and the door stood perfect, not blasted off its hinges by a crazed Death Eater.

"Ron! Brooke!" Hermione's voice rang far above her. "He's here!"

"Good!" Ron said loudly. "Tell him he's a git!"

Sighing out of relief, Brooke shook her head and followed her voice.

Up five flights of stairs, she saw Harry and Hermione, standing near the stairs to wait for them.

"Look," said Harry once Ron reached them. He looked to his right at the door with a sign that read: Do Not Enter Without the Express Permission of Regulus Arcturus Black.

"R.A.B. I think I've found him," said Harry quietly.

He twisted the doorknob and opened to a dark room, layers of dust settled on the bed sheets and the cabinets, but with everything still set in place, as if someone still lived here.

The Slytherin emblem adorned the walls, the bed, the windows, so much that Brooke would be convinced they'd broken into a Slytherin dormitory. As they began searching, she realized that it only looked like a messy room, not because Regulus never cleaned, but that someone else was searching here before them.

There was nothing about the locket or how it got to the Malfoys or anything else regarding horcruxes.

Only newspaper clippings of Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

"Well, its not like we really expected to find all the answers in a single Death Eaters' room," said Brooke, although disappointed at the lack of information on the locket.

"But he was the only one to turn his back on Voldemort," said Harry.

"What did you expect to find though?" said Brooke. "We've found the locket already; Dumbledore had it. It couldn't have magically been sent back here, if it _was_ here."

"You don't think the Ministry took it?" asked Hermione after a long silence. "They took Gryffindor's sword that was supposed to be meant for Harry. Maybe they took the locket too."

"He didn't mention any locket," Brooke recalled.

"Maybe he wanted it for himself," suggested Ron.

"What would the Minister of Magic want to do with Slytherin's locket?" said Brooke.

"You never know," he replied.

"If anything, it's probably back at Hogwarts somewhere," said Brooke.

"Could be," Hermione said.

"Hm. Wait. Kreacher!" Harry called and with a loud crack, the old elf appeared, shaggy and disgruntled. "Was there a heavy golden locket here a couple years ago?"

The house elf glared at them, thoroughly annoyed at being disturbed, however at the mention of a locket, his ears perked up.

"A locket?" he muttered.

"Yes, a locket. What happened to it?"

"Why," Kreacher said, staring into space. "It is gone." "Yes, we know its gone, we're looking for it," said Harry.

He, then pointed a shaking wrinkled finger at Brooke, frowning.

"What?" said Brooke, alarmed at his accusing stare.

"She's the one who has it- saw it around her neck, stolen from Miss Bella," Kreacher growled, looking about ready to pounce and scratch her eyes out.

"That was years ago," Brooke defended.

"-Miss Bella?" asked Harry. "You mean Bellatrix Lestrange?"

Kreacher nodded, still giving Brooke the dirtiest looke. "I gave it to Miss Bella and that theif has stolen it from her!"

"I did not!"

"Kreacher, Brooke didn't steal anything and if you accuse her one more time, I'll kick you out of this house!" shouted Harry.

Clamping his mouth shut, Kreacher shook the remaining anger and contempt, forcing himself to follow orders.

"It must have gotten to the Malfoys somehow," Harry continued.

"But they wouldn't have left it with Draco and surely they could tell it was Slytherin's," said Ron.

"Not necessarily," Hermione spoke up. "Bellatrix probably gave Kreacher's gift a small passing glance if anything."

"Miss Bella appreciated it, Mudblood!" Kreacher burst.

"Don't call her a Mudblood," said Harry sharply.

"It's alright, Harry," said Hermione sympathetically. "I'm on your side Kreacher."

"I will never be on the same side as filth," Kreacher growled.

"You shut your mouth!" shouted Ron.

"Oh, what would my Mistress say to this! These ingrates taking over her household. Blood traitors ordering Kreacher, Mudbloods talking to Kreacher, being unrespectful to the Blacks and Miss Bella," he muttered dramatically while Harry yelled to restrain him.

"Stop it!" Hermione said loudly and the three of them immediately be quiet. "Thank you."

Brooke sighed. "Well this hasn't been helpful in the slightest. Dumbledore wouldn't have left it back with Kreacher or back in Grimmauld Place. I told you, it must be back at Hogwarts."

"It'd be too risky going back there right now," said Hermione. "I still think the Ministry would have it."

They decided to check the Ministry first.

Over the next few weeks, they researched and took turns studying the normalcy of the area around the entrance of the Ministry in order to make a smooth break in.

Brooke began to develop a bad sleeping pattern, staying up well past one o'clock reading her book.

On page two hundred and seventy four, Brooke turned swiftly at the shuffle near the door.

"I wondered where you went," said Harry, pushing up his glasses. He looked like he woke up from a bad dream with his hair sticking up and the slight shine on his face from a cold sweat.

"Couldn't sleep," she replied. "Why are you up?"

"Same," he muttered, sitting down across from her. "Almost done with the book?"

"Oh, I already finished," she admitted. "Just rereading over some parts. It's interesting, but all the spells are challenging."

He smiled, but stared at his fingers tapping on the table.

"What?"

"Hm?" he looked up.

"You seem distressed," Brooke said, closing her book.

"No, it's just," he squinted. "There's so much I don't know."

"About what?"

"What to do," he said.

Brooke bit inside her lip. She'd been thinking the same thing, on how they were researching like mad, but at the same time, couldn't possibly know as much as Dumbledore did. Sometimes, she wished he'd left them a manual on how to defeat the horcruxes, or at least, a little bit more clues. Other times, she'd find herself questioning how much Dumbledore _did_ know and what he didn't that was holding him from defeating Voldemort himself.

"How long do you think it'll take?" she asked what she'd been wondering for months.

Harry shrugged guiltily. "It could take months, maybe longer."

Brooke nodded. That's what she expected, but that didn't wave away how much she wanted to see her family again or finish her studies.

"This is why I didn't want you guys to come along," he said.

She laughed softly. "Harry, we wanted to. We weren't going to let you do this on your own."

It made him smile only a little.

"And you don't think Ron and Hermione are having fun stuck in a house together?" she smirked and patted his hand. "We're staying, Harry."

Deciding to stay up a bit longer, they moved to another room and silently practiced the Transfiguration spells from Dumbledore's book for the next hour and a half, finding it hard to suppress their laughter when the other messed up terribly.

She trained her Animagus or Transfiguration abilities everyday when they weren't researching or taking a nice break with the newly calm and loyal Kreacher's delicious meals.

Running, Brooke dodged the benches and jumped over the swing. She kept the timing in the back of her mind, making sure her invisibility charm hadn't worn off yet. The city park was nothing compared to the open countryside of the Burrow, but it would have to do if she wanted to make the best of her Animagus.

She'd been going through the same obstacle courses: up the slides, balanced on the top of the monkeybars, over the swings and the occasional rush of small children playing. However, it became less and less of a challenge.

Jumping on the cars in the street was too obvious, seeing as her weight would startle the muggles once they heard claws scratch the metal and their car bouncing. The street itself was much too appealing, nonetheless. The narrow spaces in between the lane, the pedestrians, bikes and parking meters to weave through tempted her to dive into the city scene and test her agility.

To the street from the park and back to Grimmauld Place and that was all, Brooke told herself. She had barely made it across the street without getting hit by one of the many cars. Still filled with endorphins and adrenaline, she continued, running through people walking on the street. Suddenly, something pulled her back with a sharp painful tug. A biker ran over her tail, and she turned to see him tumble off his bike and onto the concrete.

She dashed into an alleyway right next to the building and transfigured, rubbing her lower back.

In the corner of her eye, a figure stayed still at the end of the alley.

Alarmed, she knew the Death Eater had probably seen her change form. Brooke wanted to smack herself for not checking whether or not the invisibility charm had still covered her human self. It most likely looked like she had apparated and holding her wand wouldn't help make a convincing story about being a muggle.

"Oh, come on," she muttered, soon recognizing him to be Dolohov. The same Death Eater she'd almost killed at the café. He drew his wand and immediately, she knew he recognized her as well.

Bolting the other way, Brooke couldn't transfigure into a tiger in broad daylight. Heading to Grimmauld Place would only give Harry, Ron and Hermione away.

She stopped and turned on the spot.

Her body squeezed until she opened her eyes to a deserted, tree covered piece of land. She wasn't sure what she had in mind, although the forest near the Burrow would have been her first guess. Looking around, however, it didn't have the same set up she remembered. But she couldn't go back, lest risking another run in she wouldn't be so lucky to escape.

In mid panic, knowing all she carried was her wand, Brooke decided to try to send Harry, Ron and Hermione a message by Patronus.

After walking a good distance deeper into the forest and thoroughly checking for any sign of a person, she took a deep breath to shake off the rest of her shock.

"Expecto Patronum!" she said and a rush of bright silvery light erupted from her wand and formed a tiger. "Had to escape. Careful around the area."

Concentrating very hard on the exact spot in the living room of the Black House, her patronus sped off, leaving her even more alone.

The forest lay so quiet that its peace only made her anxious and more careful. She thought the first thing to do was figure out where she was exactly.

The last thing she remembered thinking before apparating was to find an open place to hide, somewhere to run.

After a while of wandering, the sun began to set and a placed a heavy orange glow. Still unsure of what to do, Brooke sat at the best spot she could find to camp out at.

For a second, she thought the sun rays had grown more prominent through the trees on the spot in front of her. Slowly, it became more and more defined, floating in front of her.

"Jinxes upholding secret. Location?" the otter asked in Hermione's voice and disappeared.

There wasn't any safe way to get back to Grimmauld Place, she knew.

Apparating to its front step was too risky, especially now that she's given the Death Eaters a confirmation that something suspicious was going on in the area. And she couldn't tell them where she was, since she didn't know it herself.

"Expecto Patronum!" Brooke called and her patronus stood in front of her. "Unsure. Don't worry. Don't be distracted from what's to be done there."

As soon as it ran off, she heard a twig crack behind her. Gripping on her wand tightly, Brooke slowly turned, watching for any movement or sound. If it was anything more than a leaf falling, she knew it was watching her just as carefully.

It was impossible to take a step forward without stepping noisily, however, Brooke walked as slowly as she could. Whatever it was, she'd have to check all around her before it was nighttime.

Peering around the tree, Brooke found herself pushed down by the force of a stunning spell. The caster jumped out from the tree and the familiar looking boy came after her.

"Brooke?" Dean said. "I didn't know it was you. I'm so sorry!"

* * *

**A/N: Hi :) Sorry for the longer wait for this chapter. Thank you so much for the reviews and readings and I hope you'll continue to do so :D Feel free to review, ask questions, criticize, advise, etc.!**


	4. Forest's Silence

_Torn in two, she lies awake_

_Another night she spends alone_  
_ Without his touch her skin's so cold_

_The blood that's running through her veins,_  
_ With every beat there's no escape,_  
_ Lost in everything she trusts,_

_Memories they take her back,_  
_ Every kiss and every taste,_  
_ She wishes time would ease the pain._

_I don't know if I'll ever make this right,_  
_ Cause I am just so broken by the bitterness of loneliness,_  
_ And I'm so scared._

_Even though the world she loves,_  
_ It won't ever be the way it was,_  
_ And his heart of stone left hers breaking._

_Every night she cries,_  
_ And dies a little more each time,_  
_ Say you love me (you love me),_  
_ And the silence will set her free._

**[The Silence by Mayday Parade]**

* * *

He looked like he had fallen from a tree with his torn and tattered clothing that hung around his body. He was leaner than before, but looked more muscular.

"What on earth are you doing around here? Is Harry, Ron and Hermione with you?" he asked, glancing around. "I really am sorry, I panicked. I'm not sure how to reverse it either, but it'll wear off soon."

Thanks to Hermione's excessive preparedness, she did know how to reverse a stunning spell, but it wouldn't necessarily work, having been the one stunned. So she waited until a good fifteen minutes passed.

"I'm alright," she said, getting up. "I can't believe you ended up here, too."

"Crazy, I know," he said, fiddling with a couple twigs. "Well, its what I have to do, since I'm a muggleborn."

Shaking off the dirt, Brooke sat next to him. "Why? What are they doing to muggleborns?"

"You haven't heard?" he turned to her, eyebrows raised.

She shook her head.

"The Ministry's calling all of us in for 'questioning.' Almost ended up in Azkaban," he muttered, "So I ran for it."

"Azkaban?" Brooke's eyes widened. "For what?"

Dean half smiled and flicked his eyes from the ground to her face, "For being a muggleborn."

Brooke frowned, pushing her hair behind her ears. And Sirius hardly looked like he survived that torturous prison. They might as well sentence them to death. Rufus Scrimgeour wasn't the most warmhearted man, but she couldn't picture him acting so irrationally.

"So you ran to a random forest?"

"Not a random forest," he shook his head. "We're near a muggle campsite, but I'm actually not too sure where it is anymore. After wandering for a couple days with only a wand for a compass, you kind of loose your way."

"There has to be a way out," Brooke said, staring at her wand as if a dictionary list of spells would emerge from it.

"How'd you end up here alone, anyway?"

"Guess you could say I'm on the run, too," she replied, whishing she could tell Dean what was going on, in hopes of a solution, but she knew better.

Reaching nightfall, they called it a night, however Brooke couldn't sleep. It was better than sleeping alone in the forest, but the unbearable silence of the forest was only asking for it to be broken by something. A bear, or wolf, or a Death Eater.

Finally, her eyes pleaded for sleep. After all, if Dean's been making it through the forest alive, it couldn't be too dangerous.

/

He felt like stone, eating a decent meal while all else was getting tortured, getting kidnapped and killed. Being at the Manor all day without a step outside the gates meant having to listen to all of the Dark Lord's plans, mostly by word of Death Eaters coming in and out.

News was all the same. Mudbloods being sent to Azkaban- and a third of them passing out or even driven to death by fear and madness. He'd have thought it stopped there, but the hostility ran to the halfbloods and purebloods sticking up for them. Draco need not worry about his own friends, safe at Hogwarts, however, he could only imagine what the Weasley clan, Potter and the bush haired Mudblood were up to. How they must be surviving with Death Eaters snooping every corner, every hint of where Potter may be.

His mind would be reeling if he knew Brooke was in the same ordeal. He definitely wouldn't be sitting around at the Manor if he knew she was at the brink of death each day. Instead, it was avoided with one flick of his wrist, putting her out of this misery before having the chance to survive it.

Even just chewing his food made the locket chains around his neck stand out from his flesh, bugging him to no end. Yet, he wasn't sure why he wore it.

Although, it was a smart decision on his part to take it off when the Dark Lord was around. Draco would be at the other end of the torture sessions if the Dark Lord knew he was hiding something that used to belong to Salazar Slytherin.

"Oh, Cissy, you should really get out of this house," said Bellatrix. "I don't see why you're the one hiding."

Draco ate in silence each day. Her bony hands grasp around a golden goblet, draining the last drop like a thirsty beggar.

"You don't know what could be out there," replied his mother simply.

"There is nothing out there!" screeched Bellatrix, laughing. "We are almost- if not at our prime _out there_. People will treat any friend of the Dark Lord like kings and queens, _out there_."

Her eyes glittered with greed. He never was sure if everything was fully right in his aunt's head. There was no remorse. There was never any remorse in a Death Eater's eyes.

Draco could only hope he didn't acquire that same mask that seemed to pair hand in hand with the tattoo on his left arm.

"I'd just not take the chance," replied Narcissa.

Days comprised of eating, listening, torturing, and sleeping. Sleeping, to get away from the nightmare he lived, even if those dreams were diseased with her face.

And all the Dark Lord required him to do was be his extension of a wand and be present at his meetings or interrogations.

With all this extra time, however, an idea occurred to him. The unproductiveness of his lifestyle never suited him. If he had gone back to Hogwarts, his behavior could have mimicked that of Granger: immersed into academics. That castle would have made him insane though, being directly attached to his memories of her.

But not going back didn't mean to fall so behind.

Draco grabbed his wand.

/

Her first day passed by uneventful and she hated its lack of movement and helpfulness. Something could be done for her to get back, but with Dean along, it was harder to simply ditch her former Gryffindor classmate.

"Do you know if there are any deer around here?" she asked, unable to ignore her growling insides.

"I've seen them," he replied, offering her some of the shriveled up berries they gathered, "but not often."

Brooke decided to at least try. Transfiguring into a tiger, she thought, would make this gruesome task easier on her mind. It felt like she'd been searching the entire forest, crouching at every rustle of leaves, just in case. The sun began to set when something moved behind her.

A small baby deer was grazing, unaware of the tiger watching it intently. If there was a baby there must be a larger deer somewhere nearby. Looking, without moving her body, she couldn't find or smell any trace. But she was hungry.

Settling her chest as close to the ground as possible, she placed herself directly behind the deer, trying to use the cluster of trees to her advantage.

With one step, the deer stopped and its ears perked up.

Brooke sprang, pouncing before it turned to see her and escape. Unable to hold Brooke's weight, the deer immediately collapsed to the floor, weakly, but frantically struggling. Digging the claws deeper into its throat, she looked away as the light faded behind its glassy eyes. The body went limp with a final cry.

It wasn't a joyful experience, but it was necessary, she told herself. And Dean was more than thankful, for finally having a decent meal. He didn't argue with her request to prepare the deer. She would've done it herself, but Brooke didn't expect herself to fall so heavy guilt.

The next day, the two traveled West.

To their luck, they stumbled across a marketplace. The safest place to stay, however, was no where remotely close enough for a town passerby to stumble across them. Dean stayed to watch over camp as Brooke went in.

Her only problem was the weather. A distinct chill was set upon the town and all she could do when entering was draw up her hood. The streets were deserted and all the food stands were vacated to avoid the cold.

"So much for swiping food," she mumbled.

Every step deeper into the city, she felt more ill. Her stomach began to turn, her head spun and she felt as if her skin was slowly hardening to ice.

All of a sudden her and Dean's situation became more real to her. It only now struck her how high were the chances of them dying in the forest. That Harry, Ron and Hermione had probably been found by now or on their way to death just as she was.

Then, Brooke shook her head furiously. Why would she even begin to think about him at the moment. The grey color scheme surrounding her did remind her of his eyes, but that's just silly of her.

Shivering, her thoughts were unblocked by the usual wall of suppression. Where was he, anyway? Wherever he was, it was sure to be rotten with Dark Arts. He'd probably be planning and helping Voldemort with some other way to bring the whole Wizarding world to its knees.

Just like he did for Dumbledore's death. The memory of that night replayed so vividly in her head, so real that she snapped her head around, wondering if she really did hear Draco's voice. It was as if he uttered that damned curse somewhere in the distant part of the town, but so softly enough to have been right at her ear. It mixed in with more murmurs, echoing, reverberating the whispers he once said to her. When he said them to her so gently as he held her. His arms wrapped around her body so it pressed so close to his.

"Brooke…" he said.

"Draco?" she breathed, making a fog in front of her mouth. Brooke wheeled around, searching.

"Brooke," it said again.

Her breathing grew more shallow and uneven, unable to tell the difference between the whispers, the murmurs and the wind.

Holding her head in her hands, she found herself crouched next to one of those carts. It wouldn't stop.

Swooping figures descended upon her and, for a split second, they resembled Death Eaters all too well. Instead, were at least fifteen dementors circling around her.

She could barely feel her legs and her fingers managed to weakly wrap around her wand.

The urgency of her life being threatened by a dementor's kiss seemed not enough to stop her from sobbing furiously to utter the spell. Even if she could get herself to lift her wand, it felt like no happy memory could be recalled to muster up even a shield Patronus.

No, she had her friends, Brook told herself. She had Harry, Ron and Hermione.

But they weren't going to be there forever. Just like Bill and Fleur, they were going to pair off. Ron and Hermione. Harry and Ginny. And Brooke…

Even if she made it out of here, she'd be in misery, trying to run from guilt and the certainty that she meant nothing to the one person she loved.

The dementors immediately rushed away, escaping from the bright silver light now present in the town. Brooke squinted, watching the pearly eagle charge at the remaining dementors.

Warmth rushed back into her body and her mind cleared up. Looking up, the eagle circled above the town and flew off only when Brooke set a foot back into the forest.

"How'd you do that?" Brooke said, walking quickly towards their campsite.

He'd just finished setting up an actual tent for the night and his head popped out from inside.

"Do what?"

"Your patronus?"

"What patronus?" he asked, climbing out of the tent.

"The eagle?" she pointed at the town. "…And the dementors."

"I don't know what you're talking about. My patronus is a fox. Anyway, I was making this thing," he nodded his head at the tent proudly.

"It looks great!" Brooke exclaimed, now wondering if the eagle was really her own patronus. Her head _was_ going crazy at the moment.

"Someone in town must have helped you out," said Dean.

"Yeah, probably," Brooke stared at the sunlit town.

By nightfall, the dementors returned to their post at the town for their next victim. Brooke and Dean decided to move deeper into the forest again, lifting the tent in midair with their wands to a less dementor filled area. It was back to berries and hunting for them, but Brooke skipped today, not able to fully recover without a chocolate aid.

She knocked out in their tent, soon waking up to the sound of a muffled cry outside and the shadows illuminated by the fallen wand a couple feet away. Beside her, Dean's side of the tent lay empty.

Brooke sprang to her feet, accidentally colliding her head with the top of the tent. While struggling to get her foot uncaught on the bottom covering, she made out Dean's tall figure being bound and restrained by what looked like two black blobs. She could barely tell the difference between the catcher and victim; the chances of her curses hitting Dean were much to great.

"Lumos!" Brooke said, realizing only after her wand lit up, that it would have been best to sneak up on them instead of giving the little creatures a second target.

"Stupefy!" she pointed at the Goblin. It quickly moved to the left, missing the curse.

Behind it, Dean was still struggling, now on the floor, scraping at the ground for his wand. Not having enough room to extend her own wand at the Goblin about to jump on her face, she swung her arm and struck him sideways. In return, she received a clean, shallow across her cheek.

Clutching the side of her face, she kicked the fallen Goblin in the chest to buy time to transfigure. Brooke growled fiercely, making them slow down their pace as a duelist would.

The Goblin stared at her, furious, but knowing better than to try to attack. Without warning it smiled for a split second before he and the second Goblin on top of Dean disappeared along with her friend.

"What?" she said aloud in surprise.

The forest restored to its normal silence and the old lonely feeling mirrored that of when she first arrived.

"No," she said, circling around. "Dean?"

Only her voice echoed in return. Why was she always losing people?

"Dean!" she called again, hoping he somehow escape from the Goblins' clutches. "DEAN!"

Nothing.

That was it. She couldn't do anything to go after him without knowing where the Goblins went. Sitting back in the tent, Brooke knew she wouldn't be able to sleep.

No plan or idea came to mind and she lied down for thirty minutes, worried to her stomach upon thinking what was happening to Dean at that very moment. He could easily be dead, but Brooke tried hard to shoo away the thought.

The Goblins wouldn't have simply apparated to that very spot unless they too, were in hiding. Searching the forest for them in the dark would only end her up in the same situation as Dean and far from saving him or finding Harry, Ron and Hermione.

After what felt like a short hour of sleep, she woke up to the sun rising and immediately began to set down the tent and start her search.

Maybe she could apparate back to Grimmauld Place.

Yes, and then be captured by the Death Eaters instead of Goblins.

Maybe to Hogwarts, she wondered.

Or she could easily keep walking in one direction to reach the end of the forest and hopefully a nearby city to give her a hint of where she was.

No. What about Dean?

Half of her said he was long gone, but something told her she should stay in the forest.

* * *

**A/N: **Aah. Sorry for a late chapter . But hopefully you like this one :) And please please review! & a neverending thanks to you guys who do review, read and suscribe. So yes. The next chapter will be longer and definitely come sooner than this one did. Don't forget to leave me your thoughts in a review!


	5. The Cattermoles

_In this farewell_  
_There's no blood_  
_There's no alibi_

_Put to rest_  
_What you thought of me_  
_While I clean this slate_  
_With the hands_  
_Of uncertainty_

_What I've done_  
_I'll face myself_  
_To cross out what I've become_  
_Erase myself_  
_And let go of what I've done_  
_And whatever pain may come_

_So let mercy come_  
_And wash away_

**[What I've Done by Linkin Park]**

* * *

Draco placed his wand at the side of his bed. He really didn't need to go back to Hogwarts, maybe never even needing to return for this final year at all. It was almost surprising at how easy it was to get back to his usual level of practice. The spells were powerful, almost erupting a second before it passes his lips.

Sighing, he rested his head down on his pillow. The same images swarmed his closed eyes: the pained faces of wizards and muggles at the end of the Dark Lord's or his own hand. Of all of them, the one from the other night stuck to the surface of his thoughts, stabbing his guilt each time.

"Draco, take them to the cellar," said his father.

Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange had appeared, taking a hold of a man and woman, both around their mid thirties, small and grasping each other's hands in fear. Three children huddled behind him, nearly hidden from sight.

Draco nodded curtly and led them downstairs at wand point. The mother seemed to shake uncontrollably, while trying to comfort her children. They wouldn't have been any older than six years old. Nonetheless, Draco closed and locked the metal bars in front of them.

"Shh…" said the mother, "It'll be alright, Ellie. Don't be afraid."

"You know it won't be alright, Mary," said the husband as quietly to her as he could.

Draco looked back at the family, observing the couple staring at each other tearfully, unsure of what to say.

"Reg," she murmured, burying her head into his shoulder.

"I know," he said softly, holding her tightly.

She drew her arm around her children and hugged them, still whispering words of comfort. She was lying to them, Draco thought, as he turned away and walked back up to the main room.

His parents were sitting near the fireplace, accompanied by the Lestranges. They all laughed, the lines on their faces flickering from the fire light.

"Ah, Draco," his aunt called before he was able to sneak away upstairs. "Come and join us."

Reluctantly, he made his way to the sofas and stood next to where his mother sat, nodding a greeting to the Lestranges.

"Your father was just telling us about those Cattermoles you've locked up," said Rodolphus. "Still haven't said a word about how they escaped from the Ministry?"

Draco shook his head.

"A peculiar thing," said Rodolphus, "stunned right on the spot, the both of them. Yaxley claims to remember a single hand floating in midair with a wand. And that Mary Cattermole disappears."

"As interesting as that piece of news is, Rodolphus," Mr. Malfoy sat up in his seat. "I do not think the Dark Lord will find it quite significant enough to disturb him."

"A hand, Lucius!" Bellatrix grabbed her wrist and held it out in front of her. "Floating in midair. You and I both know from Snape's incessant rants that Harry Potter has _an Invisibility cloak_."

Lucius leaned back in his chair, thinking for a moment. His head snapped to Draco.

"Bring them up," he ordered.

Unwillingly, he obeyed, walking back down the cellar with his wand stretched well in front of him just in case.

All five heads turned to see him, still huddled, still tear stricken. Draco knew he would have to deal with the pleading and crying, but that's all he expected.

He opened the cell.

"What are you doing?" asked the father, holding his family tighter.

Draco twitched his wand towards the cellar door, keeping his eyes glued on them.

"Up. Now," said Draco.

Hesitantly, the family stood up, shuffling out as slow as they could. So slow that it looked like Draco prodded their son with his wand. Mr. Cattermole gave him a death glare, taking a hold of the boy.

When they arrived to the main room, Bellatrix was pacing near the fireplace with her arms crossed. She and Narcissa had a look of annoyance and Draco assumed they had gotten into an argument moments before.

As usual, Draco had to make the family keep moving forward towards the Death Eaters. He then took his place among them, next to his mother.

"How did you escape from the Ministry?" Bellatrix immediately rounded on the small woman. His aunt wasn't much taller, but her attitude made Mrs. Cattermole shrink in intimidation.

"I-I'm not sure," said the woman shakily. "They collapsed and- and then-"

"Then what?" screeched Bellatrix. "You and every of the Mudlbloods took the opportunity to run away and hide as if no one would ever catch you, that there wouldn't be some kind of punishment along with it?"

"No, I found Reginald," Mrs. Cattermole shared a look with her husband. Was it disappoinment or fear or uncertainty? Maybe she ratted him out just now. And he looked at her with calm disdain, even though the love of his life betrayed him. Draco frowned. It wasn't a pleasant thought at all.

"Oh yes," Bellatrix said, circling around to their backs and peeked her head over his shoulder. "You're on the list of those missing from the Ministry. You ran away from your wife and children, leaving them out of your own fear. I don't know why you all run. There's always a trace."

Mr. Cattermole only responded by moving closer to his children.

"You both seem to have a knack for escaping from what's asked of you," continued Bellatrix. "What a poor example for your children. Maybe they'd just be better off raised here at the Manor."

As soon as Bellatrix laid a hand on the smallest of the girls, the mother moved her daughter away quickly. Bellatrix smiled, finishing her circle and stood in front of them.

"How precious," she said. "Now tell me, how did you escape?"

"I already told you."

"Someone," Bellatrix said loudly and then in a softer voice, "must have helped you, did they not?"

Mrs. Cattermole glanced at her husband, stammering.

"Look at me," Bellatrix said sharply.

At once, her eyes stayed upon Bellatrix and Draco couldn't tell if his aunt had forced her with a spell or simple fear.

Her thin, dark wand pressed against the woman's cheek to keep her head forward.

"So, who was it?"

"It was no one," she replied.

"It's imperative that you tell us exactly what happened," she said, "for us and for you."

Quickly, Bellatrix grabbed the boy next to his father and held him out of their reach.

"Let him go!" his father yelled.

Mrs. Cattermole began to sob.

In the corner of his eye, Draco's mother made the smallest twinge in her face.

"Ah- ah- ah," his aunt shook her head. "Don't move."

Despite the fearful and raging expression mixed on Mr. Cattermole's face, he stood in his place, a foot apart from the rest of his family, but standing between them and Bellatrix.

"Who helped you?" Bellatrix asked slowly, placing her wand directly at the small boy's chest.

The loudest whimper came from his mother, holding her children in her left arm and her face clutched by her free hand.

Rabastan, Rodolphus and Lucius simply watched the spectacle with interest. Draco's mother, however, sat rigid in her seat with tense fingers pressed on her lap.

With a wave of her wand, the room burst with screams from the family and the boy writhing in pain on the floor. His body contorted in ways that was far from normal, as his crumpled face was colored red, a deeper shade with each second passed.

Once it subsided, Bellatrix asked again. "Who stunned the interrogators?"

The family kept crying over the only son, gasping for air and wincing. They stood planted where they were, unable to move from shock to help him up.

She waved her wand again.

The screams and sobs increased yet again, echoing against the walls, the marble floors and tapestries.

"Was it Harry Potter?" she asked without taking off the Cruciatus Curse. "Was he there at the Ministry with you?"

Letting the curse fade, Bellatrix waited for them to give an answer, however they were only an unresponsive ball of sorrow to her.

"You have a while to answer, but who knows how long this one will last," she said, turning to the boy. "If he doesn't, well, there's two more I could use.

"No! Don't hurt them anymore!" the father gasped.

"Oh, but you know how to stop that," Bellatrix straightened up. "After all, I only carry the wand, where you carry the order to cease it."

She began to raise her wand again, but the father suddenly spoke up.

"It was Runcorn! Albert Runcorn," he said quickly.

On his mother's left, Lucius sighed in disappoinment.

"Useless," Bellatrix mumbled and pointed her wand at the boy.

The most horrible of screams erupted and Bellatrix smiled at the rest of them.

Draco opened his eyes to the blank ceiling in his room, his ears ringing to the silence. He put his face in his hands and sighed.

/

Brooke packed up the tent again, getting better at mass reduction transfiguration, so much that it now fit like a rolled up cloth in her pocket. A week had passed sicne she'd lost Dean and so far, she only came across some squirrels and a small stream where she washed herself and her clothes. The only reason why she knew it was a week exactly was because of the notches in a twig the size of her index finger.

She would go a few days without uttering a single sound. There was no need to. The whole forest took the same attitude, silent except for the rustling of leaves and buzzing of the bugs. Brooke trekked through the forest in that long week, where every eyesight of land looked all too familiar and exactly the same.

Brooke sighed and groaned, sitting on the ground.

In front of her lay an empty clearing. There were no trees or bushes in the circular piece of land. It stretched about 15 feet across.

Slowly, she stood up, holding her wand ready.

Something was telling her she shouldn't be here.

"Dean?" she said quietly, despite her inner sense to stay completely silent until she was way away from it.

With a quick swish of a cloak, it nearly knocked Brooke off her feet to see Harry, Ron and Hermione in front of her.

"BROOKE!" Hermione shouted, and hugged her tightly.

"Wha- you're- but, I- you're here!" Brooke stumbled over her words and sounding hoarse from a lack of use of her voice.

"I wasn't even sure it was you," said Hermione.

Brooke did notice her hair getting longer, more tangled. Her friends looked different too. Both Harry and Ron had hair growing closer and closer to their shoulders, as well as a bit of it on their chins. Hermione's hair had been at its frizziest and a soft shade shadowed the bottom of her eyes from lack of sleep.

Overall, they looked better than Brooke, since she didn't have the convenience of Hermione's small beaded purse and its contents.

She hugged them back just as tightly, finally having some human contact in a week and her mind at rest, knowing for sure that they were still alive.

"I still can't believe it's you, I thought the worst happened after we stopped hearing from you and I wanted to send another message, but second guessed myself since I thought you could have been in a situation where that wouldn't exactly steer well for you," said Hermione quickly, running out of breath.

"I honestly wasn't sure if you were alive or not," said Ron, patting her on the shoulder.

"I thought the same," Brooke nodded.

Harry smiled. He looked like he hadn't slept or rested in a month. His eyes looked weary from constant worry, but Brooke smiled back, haven't felt this happy since...well, for a long time.

"There's so much we have to tell you and you have to tell us. Hm. Come on," Hermione pulled her by the arm, "We should put back the charms before that though."

Hermione explained the protective charms she placed around their camp, which made sense as to why Brooke felt the need to abandon the place. A small tent sat in the middle of the clearing and a firepit only a few feet away from where Brooke first sat down.

Inside the tent, the very top grew fifteen feet more and the space itself expanded to that of the tent they used at the Quidditch World Cup. She smiled at the familiar set of furniture and the bathroom and kitchen.

"Dad borrowed it from Perkins, but he didn't want it anymore," said Ron. "I'd love to get a bigger one, but it works."

"Much better than the rag of a tent Dean and I set up," said Brooke.

"Dean?" Hermione asked, looking up from her bag.

"Yeah, I ran into him the first day I apparated into this forest," Brooke explained. "He said he was on the run, too, from the Ministry interrogations or something."

Something in Harry's face changed, catching her eye.

Brooke looked at him.

"Breaking into the Ministry wasn't exactly as successful as we wanted it," he replied.

"Why? What happened?"

"We didn't any more information than we know."

"No, that's not true," Hermione interrupted. "That's how we found out about the muggleborn requirement. It's crazy. They're even using dementors in the questioning room. I thought Umbridge leading it was bad enough."

"Umbridge?" Brooke said loudly.

"She was in the room questioning a Mary Cattermole, I believe," she said. "We managed to help her and a few of them escape, though, so it wasn't a waste of time at all."

"It hasn't helped us any closer to finding that locket or any of the other Horcruxes, though," said Harry.

"Wait," Ron said. "If you ran into Dean a while ago, where is he?"

Brooke sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure. I was asleep at one point and found him getting attacked by these two goblins, but they apparated before I could really do much. I've been trying to find him and no luck."

"We haven't seen him either," said Hermione, with cocked eyebrows.

"I'm not even sure he's in the forest anymore," said Brooke.

"He'll be fine," said Harry. "If he was in the forest before and he was in the D.A. But we need to concentrate on getting rid of the Horcruxes."

"Or, you know, at least find them," Ron mumbled.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys! Still slowly working on the chapter, I'm so sorry for the waits. :( It took me a while to do this one since it was a last minute add in. But Please please review and tell me what you think about them. Thank to those of you who are always reading and reviewing. 3**


	6. Malfoy Manor

_I am a little bit of loneliness a little bit of disregard_

_I am a little bit insecure a little unconfident_  
_ Cause you don't understand I do what I can_

_I am what you never wanna say but I've never had a doubt_

_I can't help the fact that everyone can see_  
_ these scars_

_So I let go, watching you, turn your back like you always do_  
_ Face away and pretend that I'm not_  
_ But I'll be here 'cause you're all that I got_

_I can't feel the way I did before_  
_ Don't turn your back on me_  
_ Time won't heal this damage anymore_  
_ Don't turn your back on me_

**[Faint by Linkin Park]**

* * *

The thin blanket around her made the biggest difference to her than without one at all, especially combined with the warmth from the tent. In this comfort, Brooke woke up unsettled from the image of a transparent white eagle swooping at her with its sharp beak seconds away from colliding with her face.

Brooke turned to see if anyone else was awake, but the tent stood with a still glow from sunrise and Ron's loud snoring.

After laying in her sleeping bag for a good fifteen minutes, she sat up and changed into the clothes she retrieved from Hermione's beaded purse. They felt as clean and warm as the pajamas she had on, clothes far more comfortable than the ragged, dirt smeared tshirt and jeans she had on. Brooke gently grabbed her golden Transfiguration book and quietly moved away from their sleeping quarter of the tent.

She'd missed this book all those days of boredom when she wanted to rest and get her mind off the pressing situation of Dean, herself and her long missing friends. It would have been great to have the book then. A couple weeks' worth of practice would have been satisfyingly productive for once.

Her Animagus skills thrived, though. She prided at how easily she could transfigure, either entirely or partially, even down to a sharp claw for cutting or an eye to enhance her vision when the sun went down.

Maybe she'd be a Transfiguration professor. She wouldn't mind that. Well, that is, if she made it out alive after all this mess. After all this- this running, finding and destroying Voldemort, what would she even do with her life? Traveling might have had its charm worn off already.

Her stomach churned the second after she thought of how her non career oriented life would be. The voice was partially right in that dementor filled market place. Hermione and Ron, she'd hoped would get married. Harry and Ginny could work out just as well or at least find someone without difficulty.

Kendrick Weasley or Aldrin Delacour seemed like the most likely sort of candidate for herself. She supposed it wouldn't be so bad to end up with them. Bearable.

Swallowing the upcoming lump in her throat, she put the golden book down.

Looking around, bored, she saw a tattered piece of parchment nearby. Curious, Brooke reached for it and laid it flat on the table.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," she said with her wand tip resting on the center.

Within the next second, black dots and cursive faded into view. Trying to restrain herself from scanning eagerly for a name in particular only fed her interest. So she looked for everyone else.

Dean wasn't on there, obviously, but she scanned it just in case.

Her eyes ran into Anthony Goldstein, walking in the hall next to Michael Corner.

Ginny, Luna, and Neville were gathered in the courtyard, where Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass headed into the castle.

Brooke could almost picture exactly what was going on in the castle, even though all the parchment gave her were marks from a quill.

She looked over the parchment again and narrowed her eyes. He wasn't there. Where in the hell could he have gone? The Room of Requirement?

Yes. That was it.

Almost disappointed, Brooke cleared the page and tossed it back on the table.

"Git," she muttered, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms.

"Oh," someone said. "Looking at the Marauder's Map?"

Ron stood in his ruffled pajamas, patting his hair down and yawning.

"Yeah," said Brooke. "Just thought it'd be interesting. What are you doing up so early? I expected Hermione to be awake before you."

He shrugged. "My sleeping pattern's all messed up anyway. Same with my eating times. I wonder what's for breakfast," he said, rubbing his stomach.

"What've you guys been eating, anyway?"

"Whatever we can find, which isn't much at all," he grumbled.

"Hm. I kind of hoped you guys had some food packed or something," she said, acknowledging her own empty stomach.

"Wish I was back there with them," he sat down across from her and nodded at the Marauder's Map.

"Wouldn't be the same though," she half smiled, "even if we do go back for our last year."

"It sure would be better than trying to find all these Horcruxes," he grumbled. "If Dumbledore couldn't even do it himself, how does he expect us to do it and do it before everyone gets killed."

Brooke admitted she was a bit skeptical of it, too.

"Better than not doing anything about it though, right?"

Before, she would have wholeheartedly believed in her own words. Now, a part of her much rather wanted to be curled up at home, away from the Wizarding World for just a second.

"It's like Dumbledore hardly gave us any leads though. I thought Harry had more to go off of from the start, but he's almost as lost as we all are."

"We're not lost, so much," replied Brooke.

"All we've done is figured out where the rest of Moody went," he said darkly.

Brooke sighed. She didn't want to start getting hopeless already. It was a long shot to think that they would succeed, but it wasn't like giving up would produce a great result either.

"I would kill for a decent meal and some nice, thick blankets," said Ron. "I never thought I'd miss being at the burrow so much."

"I guess that's what's making me keep going along with Harry," said Brooke. "I don't really have our old house anymore."

Ron shot her a look of sympathy. "How are your mom and sister holding up?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. Hopefully not being tracked by Death Eaters."

"You know, when you disappeared, we were pawing through the _Daily Prophet_ just in case there might have been something about you in it," he told her. "Hermione was worried for ages and wouldn't shut up about it- not saying we all weren't. It was scary at how likely it could have been that you didn't make it."

For the first time, Ron was verbally saying something about how he felt.

Brooke smiled.

"It's nice to know you were worried," she said.

There was something about life being in constant danger. Where the pressure to tell the people you love that you do love them, is at its highest point. She never felt so close to her friends before because of the simple fact that she was at the uncertain point of knowing whether or not they were alive. And the terrible possibility of the worst happening, well that was just enough to make her incredibly thankful, if anything, they had a beating heart.

Days passed by, filled with the rummaged meals Ron never failed to have some kind of comment about. They spent most of their time pawing through notes and thinking of more ideas that could give them the slightest hint of where the Horcruxes lay.

It almost seemed as unprogressive as when Brooke wandered the forest alone. The only difference was that she had her friends to share the distress.

Later in the night, Brooke was back in her sleeping bag, pondering in disappointment. She so badly wanted to _do_ something, or at least something other than brainstorm with a worried Hermione, a brooding Harry and complaining Ron. Just one successful thing would bring their moods up a bit.

Harry turned in his sleep.

Thinking he woke up, Brooke looked over.

His eyes were slightly clenched and a cold sweat glistened across his forehead. She sat up as he began to fidget more in his sleep, mumbling.

Hermione noticed too and placed her arm on his shoulder to wake him.

"Harry," she said.

But no other response except for a slightly more pained face.

"Harry!" she said loudly, shaking him. _"Harry!"_

His green eyes burst open, panting and throwing the sleeping back off him.

"Dream," he said, trying to put his face to a normal expression.

"I know it was your scar! I can tell by the look on your face! You were looking into Vol-"

"Don't say his name!" Ron said angrily. "Just don't say it! It just- just don't."

"_Fine_," Hermione rolled her eyes, "You-Know-Who's mind, then!"

"He's found Gregorovitch, Hermione, and I think he's killed him, but before he killed him he read Gregorovitch's mind and I saw-"

"I think you just need to go back to sleep and try to block your mind."

"He wanted something from Gregorovitch," Harry still continued. "He asked him to hand it over, but Gregorovitch said it had been stolen from him…and then…then…"

"Then what?" asked Brooke.

"There was this blonde haired boy that broke in and stole it, laughing," he said. "He looked so familiar…"

"Well, who was it?"

"I can't remember," he replied, shutting his eyes. "But that has to be something, doesn't it? He's looking for whatever's been stolen. We should find that blonde haired boy before Vol-"

"Harry, no!" yelled Ron.

"-demort does! It could be another Horcrux!"

Immediately, a loud crack sounded outside and four of them froze in their spots. The Sneakoscopes whizzed madly and Ron plunged his hand into his pocket and clicked the Deluminator. All light ceased.

"Come out of there with your hands up! We know you're in there! You've got half a dozen wands pointing at you and we don't care who we curse!"

Brooke couldn't breath, but instinctively, checked if her wand was with her. Whoever was out there wouldn't be baited away by their silence, however, none of them was sure of what else to do.

A flash of light erupted, illuminated Hermione's face for a split second.

"Ugh-" someone stifled a groan next to her.

Her eyes widened at the outline of Harry was clutching his face, getting more and more puffy.

"Get up, Vermin."

Multitudes of people entered their tent, dragging them all outside. Unable to see clearly, Brooke flinched at the touch of large, rough hands grabbing her upper arm. Struggling seemed useless, but she managed to elbow her captor in the notch between his eye and the bridge of his nose.

She gasped in pain as he yanked her up by her hair. He forcefully threw her to sit on the ground and had her hands bound by ropes. Hermione was being dragged over as well, twisting and turning, but no match for the Death Eaters.

"Get-off-her!" Ron shouted, and soon after, receiving a blow to his stomach. He gave the Snatchers a fight, gathering three of them to force him down. One of them, looked as tall as that blonde haired Rowle. It wasn't him though, Brooke knew. His voice was too raspy and his hands too bony. Fenrir Greyback.

"No, leave him alone! Leave him alone!" Hermione screamed.

"Your boyfriend's going to have worse than that done to him if he's on my list," said Greyback.

"Search the tent!" someone ordered.

A racket commenced inside. The toppling of chairs, tables, lamps. Paper was being searched through, their sleeping bags undone and ruffled by their steps. The familiar clink of Hermione's beaded bag hit the floor and Brooke's stomach turned. There was way too much information in that one bag, let alone the whole tent they were researching Voldemort in.

Brooke tried remembering quickly what other things they had with them. Her Transfiguration book, she groaned silently. Greyback pushed Harry into the ground. She scooted next to him and tried helping lift him back up with her elbows.

"Now, let's see who we've got," said Greyback. His brightly lit wand blinded her, pointing it at Harry's disfigured face. "What happened to you, ugly?"

Harry didn't answer.

"I said," repeated Greyback, striking him below the ribs, "what happened to you?"

"Stung," Harry muttered. "Been stung."

"What's your name?"

"Dudley," he said.

"And your first name?"

"I-Vernon. Vernon Dudley."

"Check the list, Scabior," said Greyback and the closest Death Eater took out a long piece of tattered parchment.

"What about you?" he turned to her.

"Arjeta M-miller," she replied.

"Miller? Why does that name sound familiar?" he said quietly, examining her.

Thankfully, he had no attention span to think about it any further and laid his wand on Ron.

"You?"

"Stan Shunpike."

"Like 'ell you are," said Scabior. "We know Stan Shunpike, 'e's put a bit of work our way." Greyback's arm drew back and hit Ron in the face.

"I'b Bardy," said Ron hoarsely. "Bardy Weasley."

"A Weasley? So you're related to blood traitors even if you're not a Mudblood. And lastly, you're pretty little friend…"

Ron made a start, but Brooke nudged him hard in the ribs.

"Who are you, girly?" asked Greyback, twirling a piece of her hair.

"Penelope Clearwater," said Hermione, terrified.

"What's your blood status?"

"Half-blood," she said.

"Easy enough to check," said Scabior.

"Bind them up with the other two prisoners!" Greyback called and the Death Eaters watching came forward and wrenched them up.

She was pushed against a tree, still having Ron and Harry on her sides.

"Anyone still got a wand?" whispered Harry as the last of the Death Eaters were out of earshot.

"No," the three of them replied.

"This is all my fault. I said the name, I'm sorry-"

"Harry?"

Brooke's eyes widened.

"Dean?" she whispered loudly.

"Brooke?" he said surprised. "You finally found them?"

"Dean, I'm so sorry I couldn't stop those Goblins. I've been trying to look for you, but-"

"You're the one that kicked me in the face," growled someone.

Squinting, Brooke made out the small goblin bound at the end of the line, next to Dean.

"You!"

"No, no," he said quickly. "He's alright, Brooke. I've been traveling with him. This is Griphook."

"'Ey!" Scabior shouted before they could explain any further. "There's no Vernon Dudley on 'ere, Greyback. Or any Aa-Arjeeta."

Brooke cursed under her breath.

"Interesting," said Greyback slowly. "Very interesting."

The man walked over to them and crouched in front of Harry.

"Looks like you're not wanted, Dudley. You still seem like the Hogwarts age, though. What house are you in?"

"Slytherin."

"Funny 'ow they all thinks we wants to 'ear that," Scabior laughed. "But none of 'em can tell us where the common room is."

"It's in the dungeons," said Harry. "You enter through the wall. It's full of skulls and stuff and its under the lake, so the light's all green."

The two Death Eaters shared a short glance.

"Well, well, looks like we really 'ave caught a little Slytherin," said Scabior. He turned to her. "What about you?"

"Same," she said, frightened. "Same as Vernon."

"Hey!" someone shouted from inside the tent. "Look at this, Greyback!"

A Death Eater came outside, carrying a long, metal sword. Harry swore under his breath, eyes glued on Greyback's hands holding the hilt of Gryffindor's sword.

"Ve-e-ry nice," he said, admiring it. "Looks goblin-made, that. Where did you get something like this?"

"It's my father's," said Harry. "We borrowed it to cut firewood-"

"'ang on a minute, Greyback! Look at this, in the _Prophet_!"

Without putting the sword away, the two squinted to read the print. Their eyes scanned down and Greyback silently ran over the words with is mouth.

"'_ermione Granger_," Scabior pointed, "_the Mudblood who is known to be traveling with 'arry Potter_."

Brooke's eyes widened as he glanced up to Hermione, slowly walking over to her. He crouched down and put the newspaper next to her face.

"You know what, little girly? This picture looks a hell of a lot like you."

"It isn't! It isn't me!"

No, it already seemed like they knew she was lying.

"…_known to be traveling with Harry Potter_," he said again, standing up.

She only stared at his boots, walking closer over to her and stopping at Harry.

"What's that on your forehead, Vernon?" he asked softly, stretching a finger to touch the scar on Harry's head.

"Don't touch it!" Harry yelled, flinching away. His eyes were shut tight, his muscles strained in pain.

"I thought you wore glasses, Potter," Greyback breathed.

This was it. Everything was downhill from here.

"I found glasses!" someone behind him said excitedly, rushing into the tent and coming back with Harry's round glasses.

"It is!" rasped Greyback, his face lit up as he looked at Harry's swollen face. "We've caught Potter!"

Brooke shut her eyes, scrunched her face, clenched her teeth. Frustrated at how quickly their efforts were amounting to nothing. The Death Eaters were now whispering to each other and staring in awe.

"What are we going to do with them, then?" asked one, hidden among the darkness of the forest.

"We can take 'em to the Ministry," suggested Scabior.

"To hell with the Ministry," growled Greyback. "They'll take the credit, and we won't get a look in. I saw we take him straight to You-Know-Who."

"Will you summon 'im? 'ere?" Scabior said in quiet fear.

"No," snarled Greyback. "I haven't got- they say he's using the Malfoys' place as a base. We'll take the boy there."

Brooke's eyes flew back open, wide. Her stomach dropped terribly and she felt like she was really going to be sick.

She could run. She could change into an Animagus and run for it. Feeling her feet just about ready to carry out her thoughts, Brooke shook it off. At the end of last year, all she wanted was to run into a Malfoy and hex their head off.

Finally.

A rush of that hatred filled her yet again. She'll get them back, for her, for her father, for everything.

"…hold and make it tight. I'll do Potter!" Greyback hurried toward them and grabbed Harry by the hair. A couple of the others followed and roughly grabbed her, Ron, Hermione, Dean and Griphook.

They disapparated, all pushed together in a swirling mass. Harry was attempting to thrash around and get Greyback's grip off of him, but they landed on the grass in a matter of seconds.

It was odd not seeing trees surrounding her. Instead, they were in front of white and silver gates, adorned with a giant golden M in the center. Brooke rolled her eyes.

Instead of being dragged and urged on forcefully by the Death Eaters, Brooke complied. Eager to get into that house and feel satisfied once she felt that wretched family had had enough.

Brooke's chest was rising and falling rapidly to her throbbing heartbeat.

What a story all this was going to be, too. Harry Potter accidentally caught by a Mudblood roundup. Rita Skeeter would get a kick out of that one.

And who in the world had a pet albino peacocks? She glared around at their staring, furious at Harry for saying Voldemort's name aloud, furious from the rush of memories of the Malfoys.

There she saw the plaque right next to the grand front doors.

**MALFOY MANOR**

Greyback rapped the metal door hanger.

A tall, slender woman with platinum blonde hair opened the door.

"What is it?" she asked sharply.

"We've got something," he growled happily, giving Harry a shake.

"And who are you?"

"You know me!" he said impatiently. "Fenrir Greyback! And we've found Harry Potter."

Narcissa Malfoy looked Harry up and down.

"Are you sure?"

Greyback nodded.

"What did you do to him?" she asked disgustedly.

"He was like that," Greyback explained.

She hesitated for a split second, then nodded. "Very well, then. My son Draco is home. If it is Harry Potter, he will know."

Brooke nearly threw up on the spot. He was _here_?

No, no, no, no, no. She wasn't prepared for this. The notion of seeing one the older Malfoys was enough to spur her hatred, but being seconds away from seeing that bastard again? No, she needed to stall.

Greyback led the front, pulling Harry, whose hands were bound to Brooke's and Brooke's to Ron's and so on. Dragging her feet, wasn't working out so well. The Death Eaters outnumbered them and easily pushed them along.

Her eyes drank in the house. There were so many unnecessary trinkets adorning the walls, the heavy, velvet curtains draped on the windows, the green and gold carpets in contrast to the marble floors. The mirrors were framed with silver, so polished they worked as mirrors themselves.

Brooke stared. Her hair was a mess and her face a lot darker from the sun. She could feel her cloths fitting slightly more different than before, but now she could see the slim weight loss from her wild diet.

Narcissa led them down the hall into the grand living room.

Greyback moved them to line up near the wall under the curved staircase. To the wall, where the fireplace was in clear view, including the large family portrait right on top of it. Lucius Malfoy stood in the very back, towering over his wife on his left shoulder. And a young Draco in the very front, slicked hair, bright eyes and the sickening smirk fixed on his face.

For a split second, it looked endearing.

Even though it really portrayed a broken family built upon fear, conditioned adoration and the corrupted idea of superiority. It portrayed a family of liars, traitors, and cowards; a family of Death Eaters.

From one of the sofa chairs facing the fire, the man in the portrait stood up, his long hair falling behind him.

"What is this?" he asked.

Her head received a nauseating shudder when Draco turned to see what was going on. She tore her eyes away, staring at the reflection in the floor, however, already having his image imprinted in her memory.

God, how she wished her heartbeat would quit it. She actually see it pounding through her clothes this time.

Draco looked almost the same as Brooke remembered, the tall stance, the pointed chin, the pale hardness in his face that contrasted from his dark robes. His brooding air was alluring, revolting, already angering her to no end.

Curious, Brooke looked up again only to push her eyes to the bookshelf.

He was still staring right at her.

Git. He'd better be disturbed by her presence.

"We think we've found Harry Potter," said Greyback.

Lucius' eyebrows raised.

"Potter?"

"Along with 'is friends," included Scabior, taking out the piece of parchment he was writing on in the forest. "They say they're erm, Vernon Dudley, Barney Weasley, Penelope Clearwater and Arjeta Miller."

"We have reason to think that's not them, though," said Greyback, nudging Scabior.

"Oh! We found this in their tent," Scabior handed him the _Daily Prophet_. "Looks exactly like 'er, huh?"

"Yes," Narcissa spoke up, examining Hermione. "It's the girl! She was in Madame Malkins with Potter!"

"Come, Draco, see if it is Harry Potter," Lucius ordered.

Narcissa and Lucius had moved closer to the prisoners, leaving Draco still standing near his seat at the fireplace.

"Draco!" his father repeated.

The air felt thinner the closer he came, making her head and stomach feel even worse.

"Is it Potter? Is it him?" his father urged.

"I-I'm not sure," said Draco, his voice petrified. The hairs on her neck stood up.

"What about the others? Is it not the Granger girl? Or that stubborn girlfriend of yours?"

"I…can't tell," said Draco. Even though she was still focusing her eyes elsewhere, Brooke could feel his gaze set upon her.

"Take a closer look, Draco! If we find them for the Dark Lord, everything will be back to how it was!" his father said excitedly.

Draco stumbled a bit as his father pulled him closer to them, standing at most, two feet away.

"But of course, you wouldn't be forgetting who brought them here, Malfoy?" Greyback said angrily.

"Of course, of course," he replied. "But they were brought to my house."

"It's- It's probably not them," Draco mumbled to her surprise, interrupting Greyback and Lucius.

"So you won't mind if I keep these?" said Greyback savagely. He grabbed Brooke and Hermione's arms with his nails digging into her skin. Brooke gasped and forgot about her intentional avoidance.

She returned Draco's stare, wincing from the pain in her arm. But she hardly acknowledged it. He was staring at her in disbelief, in anxiety, as if he'd seen a ghost. Brooke tried to keep a blank expression, but holding it up the whole time in the manor didn't stand so well against this, the close proximity, the opportunity to stare at each detail in his face.

Before, she pictured herself with rage, wanting to wrap her hands around his throat. She didn't expect to be held up by Greyback, her eyes filled and hands clammy.

Draco's eyes were glued onto her, "Brooke?" He said softly.

Brooke's shock broke and she narrowed her eyes, furious.

Greyback put them both down. Her arms had red marks, some spots slightly punctured.

Lucius smiled and circled around the prisoners. "Good work, Draco."

Draco took a few steps away from her and faced the fireplace.

* * *

**A/N: Sooo soo sorry it's taking me longer to upload chapters than previous stories. But hopefully you still like the storyline! I'll only figure that out if you review, especially this chapter, since you know, *ahem* they finally meet :) So keep reading & as always, thanks!**


	7. Escape

_And this is how it feels when I ignore the words you spoke to me_  
_ And this is where I lose myself when I keep running away from you_  
_ And this is who I am when, when I don't know myself anymore_

_Breathe your life into me_  
_ I can feel you_  
_ I'm falling, falling faster_

_And this is how it looks when I am standing on the edge_  
_ And this is how I break apart when I finally hit the ground_  
_ And this is how it hurts when I pretend I don't feel any pain_  
_ And this is how I disappear when I throw myself away_

**[Breathe Into Me by Red]**

* * *

"What is this? What's happened Cissy?"

They all looked toward the drawing room door, where Bellatrix Lestrange made her way over to the prisoners.

"Potter's been caught," smiled Lucius.

"Potter?" Bellatrix's heavy lidded eyes widened. "Are you sure? Well then, the Dark Lord must be informed at once!"

She dragged back her left sleeve, revealing the Dark Mark on her arm.

"I was about to call him!" said Lucius, taking a hold of his sister in law's elbow.

Brooke's focus began to fade back and forth between the in-laws and the boy standing apart from the chaos. He looked frozen in mid turn to see what was going on.

Pursing her lips she stared right back at him. _Hmph. I'm not dead, am I?_ she tried to tell him with her face.

A loud bang echoed in the main room, breaking their silent conversation. All of the snatchers were on the floor, stunned, while Greyback kneeled at Bellatrix's feet.

"Where did you get this sword?" she whispered to him.

"Release me, woman!"

"Where did you get this sword?" she repeated. "Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!"

"It was in their tent," Greyback replied. "Release me, I say!"

Sighing, she complied.

"Draco, move this scum outside," she said, lazily waving her hand at the fallen snatchers. "If you haven't got the guts to finish them, then leave them in the courtyard for me."

"Don't you dare speak to Draco like-"

"Be quiet!" Bellatrix yelled at her sister. "The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!"

She began to pace around them.

"The prisoners must be placed in the cellar, while I think what to do!"

"This is my house, Bella, you don't give orders in my-"

"Do it! You have no idea of the danger we are in!" she shrieked.

Glaring, Lucius complied.

"Take these prisoners down to the cellar, Draco."

"Wait," Bellatrix said sharply and slowly approached Hermione. "All except…except for the Mudblood."

"No!" shouted Ron. "You can have me, keep me!"

Bellatrix hit him across the face.

"If she dies under questioning, I'll take you next," she said, grabbing his face.

With a silver knife from her robes, Bellatrix cut Hermione from the rest of them and dragged her by the hair into the middle of the room.

Draco led them from behind, threatening them with a wand Brooke knew he was too much of a pansy to use. He was a slimy, backstabbing, too afraid to do anything bastard. She hated him. She just wanted to grab him by the shoulders and…and…

Brooke gave her robe binds a hard tug apart, frustrated by her memory influenced thoughts. That one time, snogging in the Room of Requirement was a lapse in judgment; grabbing by the shoulders backfired and look where that led her: crumpled on the castle floor. Bastard.

Being ushered into the prison cell, Brooke let Ron and Harry go in, still attached to her wrists.

She faced Draco.

"Surprised to see me alive?" she said, controlling her voice as much as possible. Brooke didn't wait for any response before stepping into the prison cell, still close by, but looking elsewhere.

Above them, someone screamed terribly.

"HERMIONE!" Ron bellowed, trying to break out of the binds.

Draco closed the bars on them. He was about to walk away, but looked up.

"I'm not doing this, alright?" he said with clenched teeth.

"No?" Brooke took a step toward him, feeling about to burst into yelling. "You're just being Imperised then, is that it?"

He kept the glower on his face. "It's not that-"

"Then what! Somewhere inside of you is horrible horrible person, a Death Eater who wants to lock us up, just like how you wanted to kill me," growled Brooke.

"I wasn't trying to kill you!" he said defensively.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she scathed. "What _were_ you doing, hm?"

More screams erupted from the main room, mixed with incoherent yelling from Bellatrix.

"HERMIONE! HERMIONE!" Ron kept shouted, moving around so much, that Brooke was being pulled back sporatically.

"You were _going_ to be killed," Draco said over the noise. "I had to do something."

"To prevent me from being killed, you decided to just do it yourself?" Brooke exasperated, feeling her eyes growing increasingly hot and blurred.

Everything was overwhelming her. Hearing Hermione being tortured made her throat constrict. Hearing Ron half sobbing and desperately trying to get to the main room hardly made it any better.

Draco wasn't saying anything. Instead he was staring at her again with an expression that puzzled Brooke. She couldn't read it.

He swiftly turned and left back up the stairs.

"You're such a coward!" she screamed at him.

He was gone.

When she heard the door close, Brooke scrunched her face with her head

on the metal bars.

"Ron, stop moving!" gasped Harry, wriggling.

"Almost got it," someone nearby said.

She hardly noticed the two others in the cell. Luna Lovegood was trying help

Harry cut the ropes. There was a gash on his wrist.

"Ron, please stay still!" Luna whispered. "I can't see what I'm doing."

"My pocket!" said Ron. "In my pocket, there's a Deluminator and it's full of light!"

Bulbs of bright white light flew into the cellar from the Deluminator, revealing the tattered face of Luna Lovegood, her eyes still shining despite the paleness in her face. In the corner was Ollivander, awake, but other that that, seemed on the verge of death. Dean stood bound to Griphook, as disheveled as in the forest.

"You are lying, filthy Mudblood, and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, _tell the truth_!"

The scream carried into the cellar, echoing in her ears.

"HERMIONE!"

"Ron! Ron, please," Brooke tried not to sob, "please, just calm down."

With a final hack with the nail, Luna got their binds off and Brooke immediately placed a hand on Ron's back.

More comfortable now, Griphood sunk to the floor. Dean walked over to Luna, saying a soft "thanks," while Harry stood with his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! _CRUCIO_!"

Brooke's hand was clenched so much that the blood rushed out of them. Harry began to dig through Hagrid's pouch around his neck, while Ron ran around the cellar, looking desperately for some kind of trapdoor.

With screams still piercing the air, Ron started to half sob, pounding on the walls with his fists.

Brooke rushed towards him and gently pulled his arm. Immediately, he turned and put his face on her shoulder, crying. It had an almost instant domino effect on her.

"She'll be alright," Brooke tried to comfort him.

"Help us!" Harry yelled at something in his hands. "We're in the cellar of Malfoy Manor, help us!"

Hermione's screams began to intensify, the worst they've heard.

"HERMIONE! HERMIONE!" Ron yelled again.

"How did you get into my vault?"

"We've never been inside your vault…It isn't the real sword! It's a copy, just a copy!"

"A copy?" Bellatrix shrieked. "Oh, a likely story!"

"But we can find out easily!" came Lucius's voice. "Draco, fetch the goblin, he can tell us whether the sword is real or not!"

As soon as the door opened, Brooke let go of Ron and charged to the metal bars.

"You're just standing there and letting them torture her!" she shouted at Draco.

Silence. Brooke scoffed.

"There's nothing I can do that won't put myself or my family in danger," he retorted.

"Of course," she said. "Always in it for yourselves."

"Me risking my life isn't going to save hers," he said sharply.

"Well it sure didn't save mine," she breathed. "Not like you tried."

He broke the gaze and looked at Griphook.

"You, follow me," he ordered.

Soon, they were gone.

Ron clicked the Deluminator, releasing the balls of light back into the air. All of a sudden, Dobby, the house-elf apparated into the cell.

"DOB-"

Harry hit Ron to stop him from shouting.

"Harry Potter," the familiar elf squeaked. "Dobby has come to rescue you."

"But how did you-"

Another scream.

"You can Disapparate out of the cellar?" Harry asked Dobby hurriedly.

Dobby nodded his head enthusiastically.

"And you can take humans with you?"

He nodded again.

"Right. Dobby, I want you to grab Luna, Dean, and Mr. Ollivander, and take them- take them to-"

"Bill and Fleur's," said Ron. "Shell Cottage on the outskirts of Tinworth!"

Nodding, Dobby paid full attention with his orb like eyes.

"And then come back," said Harry. "Can you do that, Dobby?"

"Of course, Harry Potter," whispered Dobby, who rushed to the others and grabbed their hands.

"Harry, we want to help you," Luna protested.

"We can't leave you here," agreed Dean.

"Go, both of you! We'll see you at Bill and Fleur's."

Hesitant, Luna and Dean reached for Dobby's hand as well and the three of them along with Mr. Ollivander disappeared with a loud crack.

"What was that?" Lucius sounded from the room above.

They froze.

"Draco-no, call Wormtail! Make him go and check!"

All they could do was listen to the footsteps moving closer and closer to the cellar door.

"We're going to have to try and tackle him," Harry whispered.

She and Ron nodded.

"And leave the lights on," added Harry when Ron took out his Deluminator.

"Stand back," Wormtail warned. "Stand away from the door. I am coming in."

Once the door opened and Wormtail made the slightest squint from the Deluminator light orbs, the three of them leapt on top of him. Brooke forced his left arm to the floor, trying to hone her weight where needed.

Wormtail's wand sparked and his silver hand closed around Harry's throat.

"What is it, Wormtail?" called Lucius Malfoy.

"Nothing!" Ron yelled in an impersonation of Wormtail.

The silver fingers kept its grip, tighter and tighter. Ron's attempt to help get it off weren't making progress. Unsure of what to do, Brooke placed her own hand on Wormtail's throat in hopes he would stop, but it hardly made a difference.

"You're going to kill me?" Harry choked. "After I saved your life? You owe me, Wormtail!"

To all their surprise, even Wormtail's, the hand slowly released Harry, turning on its owner's own throat. Brooke immediately withdrew her hand out of the way and they let go of Wormtail completely, trying to pry the hand off of his throat.

With one last twitch, he lay still.

Brooke stared, wide eyed at his dead body.

"Leave him," said Harry, although looking curiously at the silver hand clasped around Wormtail's throat.

They headed to the door and snuck out, silently creeping as far into the hall without being seen from the drawing room. Peering over, she could see Bellatrix standing over Griphook. He held the shining Gryffindor sword. A bush of hair lay next to Bellatrix, unmoving.

"Well?" Bellatrix said. "Is this the true sword?"

"No," replied Griphook. "It is a fake."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Quite sure?"

"Yes."

"Good," Bellatrix said and with a quick swish, made a slash in Griphook's face. He yelled and held his face in his hands. "And now," she pulled up her sleeve, "we call the Dark Lord!"

As soon as her finger touched the Dark Mark, Harry doubled over. Brooke lunged to keep him from falling.

Not wanting to make a sound, she lifted his face upwards. His eyes were shut and his face showing a great deal of pain.

"And I think," said Bellatrix from the drawing room, "we can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ron burst into the room with his wand, brushing past Brooke and Harry, who quickly followed after him.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled and Bellatrix's wand flew into his hand.

Lucius, Narcissa, Greyback, Bellatrix and Draco turned around, beginning a shower of lights.

"Stupefy!" Harry shouted, making Lucius fall onto the hearth.

Brooke hurriedly dodged the spells and knelt next to Hermione, trying to wake her up.

"Hermione," she said, gently shaking her. "Hermione, get up."

A hand came out of nowhere and smacked her across the face, knocking her backwards.

"Avada Kedavra!" Bellatrix pointed at her.

Brooke rolled to the right, feeling the heat of the spell on the tip of her ear.

"STOP OR SHE DIES!" Bellatrix yelled, holding a knife at the unconscious Hermione's neck. "Drop your wands. Drop them, or we'll see exactly how filthy her blood is!"

Brooke slowly stood up, still holding her wand. Both Ron and Harry stood still, wands at their side.

"I said, drop them!" she ordered, the knife's tip pressing further. Red beads of blood began to leak from her throat.

They let go of their wands and put their hands up to their shoulders.

"Draco, get the wands."

He immediately reached at the feet of Harry and Ron, then made his way over to Brooke. Draco stood up slowly, with her wand in hand as Brooke watched him intently.

"Now," Bellatrix said softly. "Cissy, I think we ought to tie these little heroes up again, while Greyback takes care of Miss Mudblood."

A low grumbling grew louder and louder to catch their attention. They looked up to see the crystal chandelier shake with a million clinks and give the ceiling trailing cracks. As if in slow motion, the chandelier detached.

Bellatrix let Hermione go and jumped out of the way. A high pitched crash landed on top of Hermione and Griphook, while the crystals fired in different directions. Brooke crouched behind one of the couches and got up to see Draco clutching his bloody face.

Ron rushed to pull Hermione out, while Harry leapt to grab their wands from Draco.

"Stupefy!" he yelled at Greyback, pointing with all three wands. The force threw him off his feet and on top of the coffee table.

"Dobby!" Narcissa screamed. "You! You dropped the chandelier-?"

"You must not hurt Harry Potter," he said, trotting into the room.

"Kill him, Cissy!" Bellatrix yelled.

Brooke moved her attention away from the sisters and dashed to catch the wand Harry threw at her.

"Go!" he bellowed, pulling Griphook from the chandelier.

In a quick moment glance, she made sure Ron had Hermione and disapparated.

Focusing on Bill and Fleur's house in Shell Cottage, Brooke spun. Only when her surroundings began to blur did she feel a tug on her left wrist. Through the changing environment and squeezing she made out a single hand and panicked, losing her concentration.

Unsure of the result, she tried to channel it back onto another location. It was the first thing she could think of.

Suddenly, it felt like a cold knife slashed at her ankle.

The moment they stopped spinning, she collapsed onto the concrete sidewalk, clutching her ankle.

It would've been excruciatingly painful if Brooke hadn't been more alarmed by the tall pale boy landing on the ground next to her.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you guys for reviewing! :D I love reading them and it helps me keep track of youuur perspective of the story. So keep reviewing and telling me your thoughts!


	8. The Millers

_Why are we choosing sides?_  
_ When will we realize?_

_We don't have to fight anymore_

_We don't need our pride anymore_

_You used to be the one I'd run to_  
_ But now I tend to run you_  
_ Right into the ground_  
_ Sorry I was such a fool_  
_ Never saw your point of view_

_Where is the love we had before?_

**[The Love We Had Before by Fireflight]**

* * *

She blinked and twisted on the ground to get a better look at the boy, only to wince in pain.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she spat at him, trying not to move her ankle.

Draco pulled himself off the ground. His face was still bloodied from the collapsed chandelier, but she knew it was him. Being feet below him on the sidewalk didn't please her mood at all. Carefully, she took a hold of the nearby lampost. Halfway up, she slipped, having Draco lunge forward to catch her. Her stomach flipped.

"Get off me!" she pushed him.

"You're hurt," he protested.

"Obviously," Brooke replied, trying to remember the spell from her father's Medical books. Splinching had been one of the top things she made sure to memorize spells for, but her mind drew a blank.

"I'm only trying to help," said Draco stiffly.

"Well, don't. I don't need your help, so it would suit both of us if you'd just apparate back."

"No wand," he pointed out. And Brooke certainly wasn't about to take him back, lest risk being stabbed in the back and used as a torture doll for Bellatrix's anger.

She sighed, slumped up on the lampost. Then she opened her eyes, finally recognizing and remembering where she changed their destination to .

Thankfully, her whole foot hadn't been splinched off, but unfortunately, the injury was bad enough to require Draco to hold her up as they walked.

Reluctantly, she held out her arm.

"What?" He stared at it.

"Does it look like I can get up and walk by myself?"

"Thought you didn't need any of my help," he sneered.

Brooke pursed her lips and glared.

He grabbed her arm and gently pulled her up. "Where are we anyway?"

"My house," she said, fixing her grip on his back.

She could see the tan and navy blue two story house from where they hobbled from. They landed on the street across from the playground, so it wouldn't take too long of a walk.

From the outside, her house looked untouched, as if no one had to have fled from it. However, it carried itself differently. She couldn't put her finger on it.

"This…this is your house?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, why?"

"Just- erm, didn't hear you," Draco replied suspiciously.

She kept her gaze on him for a second longer than usual and kept limping towards her house. The charms her father placed had been taken off and replaced with those of Mr. Weasley and Kingsley. They were supposed to have prevented anyone not of blood relation from entering, however, Draco passed by them with ease.

Reluctant to keep going, Brooke placed her hand on the unusually cold door knob. She wasn't quite sure of what day or month it was, but the weather when they dropped onto the sidewalk wasn't nearly as freezing as it was right in front of her door.

Inside felt like a snow blanket wrapping around them with immediate chills and the familiar sickening turning of her head. Draco let go of her, grabbing her wand and turned quickly to his right. His sudden movement made Brooke fall to the floor.

She felt nauseous again, recognizing the overwhelming guilt and pity settle into her again.

"Expecto Patronum!" he yelled. A burst of white light erupted toward the two dementors. An eagle.

It charged, taking away the chill as it faded into the air. Her headache disappeared as quickly as it came and her skin rested from its goosebumps.

Brooke stared at Draco, wide eyed.

He looked somewhat pleased with himself until he caught Brooke's expression.

"You can do a patronus?" she said, stunned.

Unsure of how to respond, Draco gave a half shrug half nod.

"And it's…it's an eagle?"

He nodded, giving her back her wand. "Learned it a couple weeks ago."

Brooke narrowed her eyes, trying to recall exactly what the patronus from the marketplace looked like. It was no doubt, an eagle as well. But there's only so many animals for wizards to be attributed to. She shook away her improbable thought and grabbed Draco's hand to stand up.

With a clearer focus, Brooke looked at their living room in solemn awe. The coffee table was knocked on its side with three of its legs broken. Their maroon rug with golden accents lay askew, littered with the pieces from the broken vases. The painting sat, fallen off the wall only standing with the help of the couch.

Brooke rushed up the stairs as fast as her ankle could take her, then into the hall on her right and walked into her parents' room. The blown off hinges made it plenty easier for her to head straight in. Drawers were opened, papers scattered, the mattress overturned.

She didn't notice Draco in the doorway. He looked about ready to say something, but Brooke didn't need any cheap words of comfort at the moment. She went to her room, to find the same disarrayed set up. It was there in each room.

/

Draco let her search the house. Meanwhile, he slowly went down the stairs, made a left and found his way back into her father's library. How could he have missed it? There had to have been pictures around. Draco wracked his brains, only able to remember his father never having said whose house they were searching. He could hardly remember why they did it. Something. Anything to find that would get them back on the Dark Lord's good side. That's what he claimed.

That's what the intent was, but as soon as he, his father, Dolohov and Rabastan took down the protective charms, the "search" turned into demolishing the place.

He had been in this house. He was in Brooke's house mid summer and he didn't even notice. He sat and waited in the library again, waiting for her to come back.

This room would've been chaotic as well if Draco followed his father's orders and didn't lie when he asked if he found anything of importance in that room. No. Draco didn't even try searching.

Standing up, he looked around the library. It was a large room for the kind of house they had. There was a wooden desk with quills, ink bottles, parchment and a book, all coated in a blanket of dust. What was he doing that night that made him completely miss this picture frame. It stood at the corner of the desk. A small picture of two young girls sitting with their parents on the grass. The one on the right was Brooke, he knew, mainly remembering she was the youngest in her family. She looked like her. The tiny dip in her nose, the eyes. They were laughing, waving at the camera.

His eyes moved to the book on the desk. Curious, he opened the front cover. Flipping through the pages, he finally realized the small scribbled writing documented Brooke's progress as an Animagus. Written in her father's hand, he guessed. It tracked as far back as her first accidental transfiguring at age 8.

A picture stuck out between the last couple of pages. Brooke and her father. It looked recent. Upon her neck, he could see the golden chain hanging about her robes. It swung as her father embraced her tightly.  
Draco closed the book and ran his hand over his face.

Brooke tried to keep in her anger. She tried not to start throwing the furniture around herself. Her ankle was killing her now, though. Her head started to feel too light while the leg itself began to prickle.

Surprised to find Draco sitting in a chair in her father's untouched library, Brooke limped to the bookcases, scanning for anything to help splinches.

After finding the right book with the right spell, feeling gradually came back in her ankle, but she still used Draco's shoulder to help get around.

They sat in the library for a little while; Draco sitting in the chair next to the door and Brooke sitting on the desk on the opposite side.

Her head felt as if it were drowning in its own thoughts, suffocating from itself. It was too quiet in this room. She wanted to say something to him, just to fill the air. Nothing changes, even if Brooke couldn't help but feel some slight appreciation for his lack of comments and complaints. That wasn't something to praise.

"It wasn't really even an order."

Brooke turned her head.

Silence settled in for another hour long seconds.

"I didn't know this was your house," he said to the floor.

She felt a warm stab in her abdomen, but no surprise. It was just another thing to hate him for. Another and another. Brooke was afraid to open her mouth.

Letting her legs act illogically, she let them walk, take her closer to Draco. She found herself sitting in the chair next to him.

It was harder than ever to repress the thoughts. She pictured herself reaching and holding his hand tightly. To pull herself closer to him and forgive him, but she just couldn't.

"Why do you do it?" she asked.

Draco's eyes met hers.

"I have to," he said.

The image that flashed through her mind, she knew, was only an image and was only ever going to be an image. Brooke knew. She knew she'd keep it there, against her will or not. It would be her little monster, all caged up.

Brooke cleaned up her house with help from her father's books. In total, it took her about thirty minutes to cast everything back into its place and set up her own protective charms. In a civil agreement, they decided to rest with an unspoken agreement to not acknowledge what they were going to do when they woke up.

It was already three in the morning.

"Erm," Brooke said. "I guess you can just sleep here."

She grabbed blankets from the closet and lay them on the floor next to her own bed, chasing away alternative ways of sleeping.

Brooke made up her mind. As soon as she woke up, she knew what she had to do. She had no idea where Harry, Ron and Hermione were, and now she was unsure to send a Patronus message, since it would appear wherever they were, in front of whoever they were around.

Draco came down from the stairs, dressed in one of her father's shirt, ruffled from sleep. His hair was tousled and his eyes were adjusting from his dreams. Brooke turned away.

"Good morning," she said.

"Morning," he grumbled.

She hated how this scene appealed to her. It felt like two children playing a large scale game of house, acting as a couple with a living room and all. Disgusting.

"What are you going to do?" she asked and he just stared blankly. "Well, I'm sure as hell not going to apparate you back home or lend you my wand."

Draco paused for a second. He shrugged.

Brooke sighed. "I'm going to Hogwarts. You can stay there if you'd like. I'm sure whatever vacation you're on is done with."

"Not on vacation."

"Mm?" she said, pretending to be uninterested and focused on the pile of books she'd gotten from her father's library.

"I'm not on vacation," he said again. "Didn't go back this year."

Brooke looked up at him, monitoring the slightest move in her face. "Why not?"

He was being quiet, keeping his eyes on the table before attempting to catch her eye. The air enclosed around them.

"I thought I killed you," Draco said seriously, barely moving his lips.

"You did," she replied, feeling a wave of bitterness run through her. "I don't think you know what it felt like to wake up with the picture of you pointing your wand at me being the last thing I remember."

Draco's chest rose and fell more noticeably.

"Oh, yeah, and thanks," she continued. "For breaking into my house and destroying every possible thing in it."

"It wasn't on purpose," he said sharply.

"That's such a lie! Why else would it have been _my_ house after you put an end to _my_ life?"

"They didn't even tell me this was your house!" Draco yelled. "I didn't even know where the hell your house was until now. If you ask me, they just wanted to take their anger out and since you were remotely close to Potter, they chose you."

"Even if that's true, I still say thanks, for not stopping them because you never stop anyone and just comply. You comply and sacrifice other people because you have no choice because you're only looking out for yourself," she stopped, waiting for him to say something back.

He stood up headed for the stairs.

"Will you stop ignoring me?" she quickly got up. "The least you could do is explain things to me."

"Explain what? You wouldn't believe anything I say anyway."

"I don't know, maybe explain this whole thing then? From the very beginning, like why you would trick me into letting your Death Eater friends into the castle and kill Dumbedore."

"I did try explaining, but you wouldn't listen," he retorted.

"All you said was that you tried to kill me so that someone else couldn't kill me and that of course, makes all the sense in the world!"

"I thought you had the ring on!" he shouted. "I thought the spell would go through you and get encased onto the ring on your finger just as it did with the Cruciatus curse."

Brooke's hand automatically felt her ringless pinky. "I wasn't wearing it. And perhaps with something that concerned my life, you could have bothered to check first."

"You wanted me to _check first_?" he exasperated, nearly smiling with disbelief. "It was a split second decision. If I waited any longer, you'd have been dead!"

"I would've been dead if it weren't for that blast to the wall pushing me out of the way!"

"I had to take the chance, _any_ chance was better than letting Snape's spell guarantee you being killed," he said.

"You wouldn't had to have taken a chance on my life if you didn't get involved in all this," she hissed.

"How many times do I have to explain to you that I don't have a choice in this!" Draco shouted. "I can't simply quit being a Death Eater! I can't completely disregard my family without being killed myself!"

Brooke gulped, wishing she could take a short time out from the argument.

"You didn't have to keep bringing me into it though," she said without the constant sharpness she previously held. "I only helped you because I listened to that stupid, ignorant part of myself that thought that-"

She stopped. It would sound silly saying it out loud.

"That…that believed you when you said…that," she said more hesitantly, knowing the silliness of her words, "you still…loved me."

Draco didn't move. If something in his face moved, Brooke didn't catch it, since she could only manage to stare at the stair railing.

"Brooke, I-" Draco began to say.

"Nevermind," she interrupted him. The awkward way he moved drew their attention to how close they stood in front of one another. It was an almost initiated hug, withdrawn half way through. "It was mad of me to think that you really did have a good intention in putting the whole school in danger."

He let out a breath in disappointment.

She felt something in her head mentally punch itself in the face, even more so when Brooke decided to brush past him.

Climbing up the stairs and into her bedroom, she left the door wide open and sat cross legged on her bed. After a good while of glances at the hallway, Brooke stood up and began packing one of her smaller traveling suitcases. Not wanting to pack heavy, she only placed one more set of clothes and decided to grab a couple books as well. The potions, especially the medicinal ones her father kept for work, would've came well in handy if she didn't discover them crashed onto the floor the other day.

It only took a couple attempts at the shrinking spell to miniaturize the entire bundle to sit comfortably in her palm. Brooke placed it into the black pouch sitting on her desk.

It was just the things she couldn't find, conjure or swipe from Hogwarts that she needed to bring. That was all, she guessed.

/

What the hell did she want anyway? Draco sat himself on a couch in the living room. He _was _going to say something. He _was _about to completely explain himself, but there wasn't any point if she kept being this stubborn.

Perhaps the faux murder would shake a person up, but if she'd just listen, all that pent up anger towards him might fade away. But that's fine. She could go on seething in her contempt. It'd drive her mad sooner or later.

If this were a couple years ago, Draco would be up in her room making an attempt at a conversation, however, he couldn't talk to her now. It was much too frustrating for the effort it needed.

"You're still here?"

Brooke stood at the top of the stairs, wand in her hand and wearing the same condescending expression on her face.

"Where else would I be?" he replied lazily.

She shrugged, then held the front door open, staring at him.

"What?"

"You don't expect me to allow you to stay in my house without me around, do you? You might make a mess again." she pursed her lips.

"Where are we going?" he asked, exerting what little patience he had left.

"_We?_" her eyebrows raised. "I was under the impression you'd demand to immediately be brought back home."

"It's pretty obvious you wouldn't do that for me."

She smiled. "You're right."

It was a sour, biting smirk, but it was as close to a smile than he'd seen in ages.

"Are you coming or what?" Brooke called from outside the door.

"Right now?" he stood up. "A warning beforehand would've been nice."

She peeked her head into the house, glaring. "I did tell you beforehand."

Thoroughly annoyed, Draco rolled his eyes, slowly making his way to the door.

"You know you can't apparate into Hogwarts."

Standing right in front of the doorway, Brooke had her arms crossed. "I know that," she mocked. "We're not apparating _into_ it, just _near_ it. Unless you have another vanishing cabinet to sneak us in."

With that, she turned around and walked around to a small corner next to the house and held her hand out.

He watched it hang there for a couple seconds before realizing she meant for him to take a hold of it.

Brooke sighed impatiently and reached for his own hand.

The feeling jolted up her arm, acting upon her nerves.

Each line and each angle written in his hand, his fingers, stood in their exact place, as if nothing had changed.

But things did change and this, this was frightening.

* * *

**A/N: ** **Wanted to post this one earlier, but I had writer's block for two days . But no excuse, I know. Anyway, thank you guys for reviewing & reading all the time :D Please keep reviewing. They act as a whole lot of things for me: to know people are reading, to get your reactions, to see if I need to clarify or change anything, to read your ideas, and for some reason, they just encourage me to write (:**

**So yes, hope you like this chapter & review! :D**


	9. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry

_On this half lit day_  
_ With your crown beneath your wing_  
_ Every word just echoes_  
_ And the empty world sings_

_ Where have you gone my feather light heart?_  
_ I never imagined I could leave._

_ In the glistening_  
_ Of the lost and open sky_  
_ Tiny piece of you sits_  
_ Simple wish waits for reply_

_ Where have you gone my feather light heart?_  
_ You mustn't forget what love can see. _

**[Where by Lisbeth Scott]**

* * *

Night flooded into their sight and the castle towers lay far in the distance.

"I know I said you couldn't apparate in Hogwarts, but you could've chosen a closer spot," said Draco, standing next to her. Feeling his hand shift in hers, Brooke immediately let go.

"We're not going through the castle doors," she rolled her eyes.

To their left, she squinted to see the Shrieking Shack, illuminated by only the dim lampposts in the main Hogsmeade road.

"How else do you suppose we're going to get inside?" asked Draco, following her.

"Even though Dumbledore's not Headmaster there, I'm sure some kind of charms are put up all over the school," she replied. "They're probably even worse now."

It didn't take too long to get to the Shrieking Shack, but it would have been more of a peaceful trip if Draco had his own lit wand instead of complaining of not being able to see.

"Here," she thrust her wand in his hand. "Now shut it."

Brooke, instead, transfigured her eyes and ears as she used to do in the forest when the sun went down. Taking her full tiger Animagus would probably reduce their traveling time in half, but obviously, she couldn't just leave him in the middle of the night.

Eventually, they made it in front of the run down door.

"Nox," Brooke whispered and around them felt like pitch black.

Nothing besides the darkness and shaky structure posed as much of a danger to them. She'd never entered through the front door, but it didn't take long to remember where the passageway to Hogwarts was.

"Lumos," Brooke said as they entered the narrow tunnel. Taller than she was four years ago, she had to watch her head for protruding rocks from the ceiling, while squeezing her shoulders in a little to avoid having to shuffle sideways like Draco did.

He was right behind her and so close that she could feel his arm bumping into her every couple of seconds.

"How far is this thing?"

"As long as the walk from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts."

"They couldn't have bothered to maybe clean it up a little?"

"It's underground."

"Or at least put in lamps or something?"

Brooke stopped suddenly to throw him an annoyed look and Draco collided into her.

"What are you- Fine, sorry," he said contemptuously.

After about fifteen minutes, her light showed a dead end. The stairs were gone, replaced by a solid, impenetrable wall.

"Confringo- Expulso- Deprimo- Reducto!" Brooke tried every spell she could think of.

"Well, that's great," Draco exasperated. "Now we-"

Brooke's ear twitched and she smacked her hand onto his lips. With her free hand, she seized her wand back and pointed it at the wall. It shook once, moved backwards and shifted all the way to the right.

"Stupefy!" she yelled, hitting the Death Eater in the face.

He fell, face first, into the passageway floor. Hurriedly, she picked up his wand and gave it to Draco.

Silently, she stepped over the black robed body and peeked out from the entrance to the Whomping Willow. It looked like he was the only one patrolling in the area, however, there were a couple dementors they'd have to get through before reaching the castle grounds.

"Know him?" Brooke asked, turning him over with her foot.

"I don't recognize him," said Draco, clearly shaken by the surprise attack.

"I thought all you Death Eaters would know each other."

"You can hardly keep track of them. And even then, no one interacts unless needed."

"Obliviate," she pointed at the Death Eater.

"Was that really necessary?" he said in surprise.

"We would've been found once he woke up and remembered who attacked him," she said.

"Being found is only a bad thing for you," he muttered.

"You can leave," she scathed. "You have a wand, so just go hide back in your little Manor."

Draco realized this as soon as Brooke handed him a wand, but he didn't know why he didn't just apparate at once.

"Not until I get my wand back from Potter."

She scoffed. "Well, good luck. Tell me if you find them."

Brooke climbed out first, jumping over one of the Whomping Willow's branches charging at her and slammed her fist against the knot on the trunk. The tree went still.

"You can get out now," she called.

Hesitant, Draco's eyes popped from the hole, checking again before pulling himself into the grounds.

She shivered as the dementors began to glide toward them. They grew closer and closer, but Brooke waited until Draco was completely out of the passageway.

"Catch!" she shouted, throwing her wand at him.

Caught off guard, he almost dropped it.

"What am I supposed to do?" he said, startled.

"Spell!"

Dementors swooped onto them and Brooke was about ready to snatch her wand back.

"Expecto Patronum!" Draco yelled with both wands in his hand.

The glowing silver eagle dove into the black figures. She kept her eyes watching carefully, making out the exact length of its wings and the curved beak, only to be reaffirmed that this was the same eagle in the forest.

With a screech it disappeared, illuminating Draco's puzzled face for a few moments before it blurred from darkness again.

"What was that for?"

"Must've slipped," she shrugged, taking her wand.

They silently hurried their way to the castle grounds, making sure no other Death Eaters noticed their entrance. The castle itself looked more vast than she remembered, with corridors and rooms filled with the potential of containing a black robed wizard.

With having Harry around the past couple years, Brooke was used to seeing the castle after curfew, but it wasn't as nerve wracking as it was without an Invisibility Cloak. She wanted to search for the locket and make Snape's office the first stop, however, her common sense reasoned that she had less of a chance getting caught once they took a break in the Room of Requirement.

Dodging behind pillars and creeping across the walls, they reached the fifth floor when Peeves flew out from one of the suits of armor.

"Out after curfew again!" he cackled. "Slithie and Griffie back to sneak outie! Tut, tut, they'll hear you, they will. They'll catch you, they always do. Tomorrow they'll torture you!"

"Shut it, Peeves!" she hissed, fearfully glancing down the corridor where someone was rushing to see what was going on. "Wait, what do you mean, they'll torture us?"

"Scary scary," said Peeves, shaking his head like a child.

"Who's torturing them?" she pursued.

"Brooke," warned Draco, pulling her away.

She turned her head and hurried behind the corner with Draco.

"Peeves?" a familiar voice called out. "What's going on?"

"Little ones out of bed!" Peeves said in a sing song voice, pointing in the direction they left with his whole body.

McGonagall sighed. "Thank you, Peeves."

Brooke started to go back around the corner, but Draco held her back.

"What seems to be the problem?" a newer voice reached them.

"Nothing, Amycus," McGonagall replied.

"Nothing?" he repeated. "Peeves, who's out after curfew?"

"Plbbbt!" the poltergeist stuck his tongue out and flew away, cackling.

The tall, thin, Death Eater began walking towards them. Draco took a hold of her wrist to lead them out of the way.

"Amycus, just leave it," said McGonagall in a tired voice. "Peeves could have merely been playing a joke."

"Hmph," he stopped in his tracks. "If we hear so much as a hint of disobedience and lying from any of you teachers, you can have the same punishment as the students."

"I'd rather you do it to us than them," she replied and went back to her quarters.

Brooke wanted to follow after her, maybe ask her a couple questions to see what exactly was happening to Hogwarts. But she let Draco keep his grip, forcing her to continue to the Room of Requirement before anything else happened.

The hallway into the room brought back the somber anger in her, but Brooke tried waving them away and replaced them with trying to think of a plan. The door was there for them as soon as they were in sight.

Inside looked just like the dormitories without a the color pattern specific to the Gryffindor house she was used to. There were only two beds, a table and rug.

Draco immediately threw himself on one of the beds.

"Sit up," Brooke said, sitting cross legged right next to him.

"Why?" he grumbled.

"Just do it," she ordered, taking off the black pouch tied to her belt loop.

Groaning, he sat up. Brooke emptied the contents, enlarging each item back to its normal size.

She took the dark blue, leather bound book and opened it.

"Whoa, what did I do?" he scooted away from her when she pointed her wand at his face.

"Calm down," she sighed. "I just need to see if I can transfigure some of your features."

"Experiment on yourself," he lied back down.

"I'll just end up doing it in your sleep, if that's better," she said. "Unless you'd rather wait here in the Room of Requirement all week."

"You don't have that cloak of Potter's?"

"No, I don't, so just get up."

Rolling his eyes, he faced her.

Brooke stared at him for a second, thinking of what she could change in his face. There really wasn't much she wanted to change.

Pointing her wand, his nose widened, then his chin broadened, rounding out the recognizable point. With his hair, she darkened it to a hazelnut brown, unslicking it to fall a bit on his face. She studied Draco, surprised at her own magic holding it for more than a couple seconds. He looked so different, except for his eyes.

"Ugh," he said, staring at the mirror the Room suddenly provided.

"Get used to it," she said. "You'll be looking like this every day we're here."

"Which is how long, again?"

"However long I need," she said, taking the mirror.

As for herself, Brooke slimmed her nose, so that the familiar ridge disappeared. Her hair fell down only to her shoulders, while taking bangs across her forehead. The overall face of her shape evened out to an oval.

"You can change us back, right?" Draco asked, staring at the changes in her face.

"Of course," said Brooke. "The spell will probably wear off soon. I haven't got to practice it much."

True enough, their faces began to change back within fifteen minutes. Brooke pursed her lips, deciding to stay up to keep practicing. Draco, on the other hand, went straight to sleep.

By sun up, the room expanded with a bathroom, shelves for the books Brooke brought and two closets with Hogwarts robes in their sizes. Exhausted, she was nonetheless satisfied with her progress from the minute duration of her human Transfiguration spell to approximately three hours.

It would be annoying having to keep an eye on time throughout the day, but it was plenty better than every couple of minutes.

She decided to take it slow, to have the next day set for observing Hogwarts, now that Snape was headmaster and apparently Death Eaters were a normal presence.

The clock on her desk said that breakfast was soon going to end, so she woke Draco up to go and eat.

"You go," he mumbled, covering his face with the blanket.

"Fine, but you can't come out of the room until I get back," she said.

"Wake me up later then," he said.

"Just wake up already," she replied impatiently. "It'll be easier to time the Transfiguration spells if I do them at the same time."

Ten minutes later, Draco was sitting at the edge of his bed with his new face.

Once Brooke finished hers, she threw him his Hogwarts robes and went into the bathroom to change.

The room provided ties and scarves from each of the houses, and from habit, each of them picked the ones from their original house. Once they left the room of Requirement and reached the Great Hall, Brooke then realized that the whole time, she assumed Draco would be helping her search the castle.

"Erm," she said, standing at the doorway. "So what are you gonna do while we're here?"

He raised an eyebrow, shrugged and went to sit at the Slytherin table.

"Hey," she called. "Don't give any specifics about you if anyone asks. Just lie low."

Nodding lazily, he sat down.

Brooke gulped, hoping the millions of things that could go wrong, wouldn't. She ate in haste, hungry, but worried that the longer they stayed around other students, the greater chance someone would figure out they didn't belong. There seemed to be less people and less noise. She never thought being at Hogwarts would make her feel so much like a stranger.

Seamus and Neville sat together, where Brooke sat relatively close by. Michael Corner and Anthony were nearby in the Ravenclaw table. Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise grouped together as usual, while Draco sat glumly, glancing up at them constantly.

Up at the teacher's table, Brooke saw the front and center absent of Dumbledore, instead sat Snape and his black eyes on his plate. The majority of their teachers were still present, silent, but present. Hagrid's enormous stature was gone. Professor Trelawny was gone, or at least Brooke suspected Umbridge would've taken the time to re-fire her. Amycus sat in one of the empty seats next to Snape, along with a short, plump and similar looking woman next to him.

Brooke opened her ears to try to listen into Neville and Seamus' conversation.

"You better keep your mouth shut, mate," said Seamus. "One day they'll just tired of you."

"They're killing enough muggle borns and half bloods," said Neville, "They won't risk sparing a pure blood just because I said a couple things about them."

"You said You-Know-Who was self conscious of his own muggle origins," he replied, half amused.

"Well, if no one else is going to stand up to them," Neville shrugged.

Brooke raised her head a little and saw that both of them had healing black eyes, red marks all over their faces and hands, but Neville seemed to have been collecting injuries on his injuries.

A sense of guilt washed over her, proud of her friends, but wishing she could help them at Hogwarts instead of running from it. She wasn't running from it, but it felt like it as they sat there bearing bruises and scars for rallying hope that Harry, Ron, Hermione and her would be successful.

She was disappointed that it hardly felt even close to Voldemort's end.

Not as hungry, she stuffed the last bit of hash browns in her mouth and stood up, catching Draco's eye.

"Library," she mouthed and left.

With everything else going on at Hogwarts, she almost expected the library to be closed down or completely restricted from student access. Most of the books were on the shelves and Madame Pince still sitting at her desk.

Brooke went straight to finding books about Patronuses. She took them one by one, so as not to be too suspicious if Draco showed up. Most of the books had so much information that she didn't know where to start: Patronuses and personality, Patronus counterpart to the wizard, memory association to the spell cast.

None of them could really explain the possibility of Draco's patronus appearing miles away from its caster, especially if he didn't know where to send it.

There was something at the tips of her memory. She remembered reading it somewhere. Something about the patronus being connected to the caster somehow, like how it nearly has a mind of its own to rid the dementors. It didn't give her an exact answer, however. Brooke didn't even know what answer she was looking for, but she knew she could find something if she asked Draco. That was most likely not going to happen.

"So?" Draco walked into the aisle she was sitting in. Brooke closed the book.

"Had a nice breakfast?" she asked, putting the book away.

"It was wonderful sitting in the same table as the friends I couldn't even talk to," he said.

"At least you know where your friends are," she retorted.

"What are we doing here, anyway?" Draco changed topics.

"I just need to do something," Brooke replied.

"Which is?"

"What's on your arm, Draco?" she said.

He looked at it, confused. Brooke gestured at his left lower forearm where the Dark Mark was covered by his robes.

"You're a Death Eater," she whispered crossly. "Why would I tell you what I'm doing when you'd just turn me in?"

"I haven't turned you in yet, have I?" he narrowed his eyes. "I could've easily went up to Snape and told him you were in the castle."

"I suppose you haven't," Brooke replied. "_Yet_."

She left the library, glad to hear he was following closely behind. Part of her thought she might have lost the only person that could help her find the locket, while another part thought he hardly earned her trust. He couldn't have expected her to be happy and suddenly okay to be around him again.

"Oh, sorry," said the boy she ran into.

Brooke stopped, staring blankly.

"No, it was my fault," she said, trying not to smile oddly.

"Do I know you?" Anthony asked suddenly, analyzing her face.

"I don't think so," Brooke replied quickly, hoping her Transfiguration spell wasn't wearing off. "Maybe around school, I suppose."

"Yeah, I guess," he said slowly. "Sorry, I just- you look like someone I knew. She doesn't go here. Or well, she did, but, yeah anyway, I'm sorry. I'll be on my way."

Anthony smiled and began to head down the corridor.

"Wait," she called. "Erm, this might seem odd, but I was just wondering what…happened to Hogwarts?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Hm?"

"I mean, I knew you were in the D.A. and I thought you might have more information as to why everything's so different around here, compared to last year, anyway," Brooke tried to say in a suspicious free tone.

"Erm," Anthony furrowed his eyebrows.

"Odd question, I know," she said. "You don't have to answer, I was merely curious. Everyone else in my class doesn't really have as much credibility in the things they say."

"It's not an odd question at all. I find myself thinking what went wrong, too. There's not much more I know than you, though. It's the war," he said simply.

Brooke nodded.

"Try not going around asking too much, though. You know what happens if the there's even a hint of rebellion or disapproval from students, especially if you're not a pureblood."

"Thanks," she replied.

Hogwarts was hardly safe. If the students conversed like this on a daily basis, she couldn't fathom how much fear and paranoia the castle accumulated in a matter of months. Without the cleanliness and schoolbooks, Brooke associated Hogwarts with Azkaban.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the longer wait . HAPPYTHANKSGIVING :D & I know I'm amazingly thankful for this website in general and all of you who are reading and reviewing. Hope you all loved watching 'Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows'! If you haven't yet, it's pretty amazing.**

**Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving and black friday! Don't forget to review!  
**


	10. The Cruciatus Curse

_I'm the one that lost the view _  
_Everybody says we're through _  
_I hope you haven't said it too _

_Sometimes I feel so cold_  
_Like I'm waiting around all by myself_  
_Loneliness gets so old_

_Been stuck for way too long_  
_But I hear Your voice_  
_You're who I'm counting on_

_When I'm starting to drown_  
_You jump in to save me_  
_When my world's upside down_  
_Your hands, they shake me and wake me_

_So where _  
_Do we go from here _  
_With all this fear in our eyes_  
_And where _  
_Can love take us now_  
_We've been so far down_  
_We can still touch the sky_

_Oh, tell me You're here_  
_That You will watch over me forever_  
_Oh, take hold of my heart_  
_Show me You'll love me forever_

_You had me all along_

**[Crawl by Chris Brown/Forever by Fireflight]**

* * *

"Come on, don't you have to a little rearrangement?" Draco tugged at her wrists, wrinkling his nose, chin and everything else Brooke changed in his face.

Snapping out of thought, Brooke turned and followed Draco until they stopped at the feet of a tall, black robed, greasy haired man.

"And where do you two think you are going?" said Snape. He tilted his head slightly to look at them. Brooke could feel Draco shaking next to her, gripping her wrist even tighter.

"Profes- Headmaster!" she exclaimed, praying her Transfiguration spell would stay together for just a little longer. "We were just...erm- we just forgot something in the library and thought we could...go and get it real quick."

Snape's eyes bored into theirs and she desperately thought of the library, a certain book in the library, a Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook that they surely had left and needed for class. Anything, anything else just in case Snape had entered their thoughts.

"You can do without it," he said slowly. "I'm sure Professor Amycus and Alecto are expecting you."

Brooke wasn't sure if he was convinced or not, but she followed, dragging along Draco. Snape turned into the second classroom to their left, opened the door and let Brooke and Draco in first. The group of students turned and their eyes fixed on the unfamiliar Hogwarts students supposedly in their class.

She began to panic. Someone in the room would notice they didn't go to school here. Someone would rat them out as soon as they could. They had to make a break for it after the class, or maybe even right now. She could stun Snape and hopefully Alecto and Amycus will be too shocked to do anything. No, that's ridiculous, Brooke cursed in her head.

"I think you could use a couple more students for your demonstration?" said Snape.

"Ahhh," Alecto smiled. "It wouldn't hurt." She and her brother stood at the front of the classroom accompanied by a small Hufflepuff boy, who gratefully ran back to his seat.

The short, stout woman gestured for them to take his place.

With a quick slam of the door, Snape was gone.

"Now then," said Amycus. His eyes flitted at Draco and Brooke.

Amycus and Alecto looked at them with a strange manic look in their eyes. Brooke couldn't describe it to herself clearly.

"This part of class is an introduction to what you may learn in the future or whenever we decide, really," said Amycus. "You all should be familiar- some more than others."

A few students reacted oddly, Brooke noticed in the corner of her eye. Some clutched their abdomen or arm or neck, while others had a disgusted look on their face.

"Today we will be demonstrating the Cruciatus Curse," Alecto grinned. "A staple in the fighting methods- effective, powerful and quite simple."

Brooke's palms began to sweat and she wished she could defend herself before they started.

"But as punishment for being late," Alecto turned to Brooke and Draco, "you both can do the honor of placing it upon the other."

"But doing any Unforgivable Curse is illegal and be traced back to the caster," Brooke exclaimed.

They laughed. "Silly girl! Joke's won't get you out of this."

She looked at Draco. Already, she could feel his gaze saying sorry more than defiance.

"The spell is simple_: crucio_. With feeling and wanting. You must mean it," Alecto stressed and gestured at Brooke. "Ladies first."

She didn't move.

_ "Now."_

Brooke lifted her wand slowly, trying to buy herself some time. Refusing them would draw attention and definitely give them away. Her wand aligned with Draco's face for a couple seconds, wavering in the air. Then, it fell back at her side.

"I can't," she said.

"Very well," Alecto said.

Suddenly her insides set on fire, writhing and growing inside her. She couldn't distinguish whether knives where slicing her or stabbing her. Whatever it was, her throat was yelling for it to stop. Eventually, it ceased and Brooke opened her eyes to find herself on the floor.

Alecto brandished her wand and bent over her. "Care to change your mind?"

"No," Brooke choked.

It came as quickly as the one before: reopening the fresh wounds that invisibly tortured her every organ.

"What was that?" Alecto shouted over Brooke.

She shook her head.

Then it doubled. Her head felt close to bursting with Amycus's spell adjoining and strengthening his sister's. Although, when she opened her eyes this time, Draco knelt over her, attempting to lift her up.

"Brooke," he panted with one arm holding her up and the other moving her hair from her face. "Brooke, please get up. Just put the curse on me, its okay. They'll stop. _Please_."

"You shouldn't even bother," said Alecto, gleefully. "She'll just fall again after this one."

And yet again, she had collapsed, but there was no pain. Draco had swung himself between her and the spell. His weight pushed her down with him and his arms were still tightly clasped around her, covering her from any spell.

All of his body was tense and his forehead pressed gently on her own. Brooke could see his face and how it cringed with pain. He seemed to take it easier as his eyes were open, wide and near buldging, but open nonetheless. The transfiguration spell changed most of his features but his eyes remained untouched and it was all Brooke needed to know it was Draco.

Then he relaxed. His eyes closed, then opened, and stared at her again, tired. Warm tears poured sideways from her own as she squeezed his limp hand.

"Now go back to your seats before I decide that your heroic deeds need more conditioning," said Alecto quietly to them.

Brooke clumsily brought herself to her feet as quickly as she could, expecting Draco to be too exhausted to help himself up. Surprisingly, he mustered enough strength to be pulling Brooke away from the sibling Death Eaters faster than she could.

"The Cruciatus Curse seems drastic," said Amycus. "Enough to have been called 'unforgivable' but it is useful. It produces results and fast."

Fortunately, Brooke and Draco were not questioned by any of the students surrounding them. They were left unacknowledged for the rest of the class period. During that time, Brooke finally found the words to the Carrows' stare.

They were calm, yet brutal. As if they were completely unaware the people they were teaching were young students. They were enlightening the next generation and punishing them at the same time. As if they felt justified in every action.

For the rest of the class period, Draco kept Brooke's hand clasped in his own.

After they were released, the two rushed to the nearest empty room, a broom closet. Brooke reinforced her Transfiguration spell and kept note of the time. They decided to skip lunch and stay in the Room of Requirement for the rest of daylight in case any of the students in Defense Against the Dark Arts were determined to find out who they were.

On their way to the Room of Requirement and throughout their changing and getting comfortable, nothing was really said or talked about.

All Brooke could think about, however, was knowing Draco saved her from a fourth Cruciatus Curse. She replayed how it felt when he held her or the amount of restraint he held when he was struck. Her thoughts were filled with opening her tortured eyes to his comfort.

It all seemed so jumbled in her head, the way she wanted him to hold her again, so securely and safely. The way she reasoned, however, was that it must be for some benefit of his. But she couldn't think of any.

They had nothing to do except read the books the room had provided for them.

Brooke looked up from one of the Transfiguration books and saw Draco on his bed, flipping through a Quidditch magazine.

"So, I was wondering," she hesitated, dragging the words out. "Why are you still here?"

Draco didn't answer right away.

"I'm not sure."

"I mean, you have a wand, the Floo networks to sneak into and even Snape- I'm sure he'd get you back home somehow," she said.

"Snape would ask too many questions," he replied.

"You could just make something up. I'd help, even. Like, how we stole you, dumped you here, while looking for something we didn't tell you about and left. It wouldn't be lying," she laughed.

He let out a small polite laugh.

"If you're waiting to get your wand back, there's a good chance you'll be waiting here forever."

"I'm not staying for the wand," he said, turning another page.

"Then, why else? I don't imagine you'd prefer skulking around the castle to your Manor," Brooke closed her book.

"It's just something I have to do."

She eyed him, but he never looked up from his magazine.

"Alright," she said slowly.

Draco was sitting up, his back on the headboard with the magazine resting in his hands. In his loosened white button up with the green and silver Slytherin tie placed on the side table, his Dark Mark was out in the open. The ink was dark, darker than a muggle tattoo and drawn so intricately. It was a permanent reminder of what he became. An epitome of something she loathed etched on someone she'd loved.

Brooke sighed and lied back across her bed.

"Are you okay?" he asked half an hour later.

"Hm?" Brooke said, even though she heard him fine.

"From earlier today?" Draco said. The magazine was absent in his hands.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "It fades away pretty quickly."

He nodded. "I stopped really feeling it after last summer. Theirs is nothing compared to You-Know-Who's."

Brooke stood up, walked over to his bed and put her arms around him, embracing him tightly.

He looked at her questioningly.

All she could do was smile oddly, shrug and walk back to her own bed.

"Erm, hungry?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied, still slightly confused. "Great Hall's probably closed though."

"I'm sure it is," said Brooke, opening the book on her bed. "Come on."

After cross referencing with the book, she went to the front of the entrance door and motioned him to come over.

"This only lasts a couple minutes, so we better hurry," she said, pulling out her wand.

"What? Where are we going?"

"Kitchens. Now, shush," said Brooke.

Once she placed the chameleon charm, they sneaked out of the room and rushed to the stairs. Although they had to cross from the seventh floor to beneath the Great Hall, they got to the painting of the fruit bowl with no trouble and only two charms. Brooke reached up and tickled the pear until it giggled.

"What in the world-"

Brooke pushed Draco in before he could finish his sentence and made sure the painting shut behind them. The room size was identical to the Great Hall with the four tables, except a bunch of house elves gathered instead of students. Out of them, a small elf came bouncing toward them.

"Hello!" she smiled.

"Winky!" Brooke exclaimed. "You look great."

The small house elf looked a million times better than she remembered. Her Hogwarts crested tea towel was clean and her eyes weren't red or teary.

"Thank you! What brings you to the kitchens?"

"We just needed some food since we missed dinner," said Brooke.

"Of course, of course, of course," she said, turning around to see house elves already bringing trays of food.

Draco sighed in relief and grabbed a couple sandwiches and a bowl of steak and kidney pudding.

Brooke took a roast beef sandwich and thanked the house elves for the chairs they conjured.

"We are glad to see you here," smiled Winky, who pulled a nearby stool and set down two bottles of butterbeer for them and opened a pumpkin juice for herself.

"I'd say the same, except Hogwarts doesn't seem like such a wonderful place to be in," Brooke gulped half of her drink.

"No. When we heard about the headmaster..." she said sadly and shook her head. "Dobby was crying and crying when told us."

"Dobby was here?"

Winky nodded. "He said he couldn't stay here, but would come back for us when he found Harry Potter."

Brooke smiled. "He did. I'm sure Dobby's with him right now."

"I hope so," said Winky, suddenly perking up and swinging her legs back and forth. "I do miss him."

"So what exactly happened once Dobby left?" Brooke asked.

"It seemed normal, like anytime a new headmaster is needed," she explained. "We noticed things were different, though. No one really pays much attention to the house elves, so it hardly seemed like a drastic change.

"Misses Pomona and Minerva came here one night early in the year to tell us what was going on: the new headmaster, the expected number of students, the usual. Except they weren't too happy. None of us were happy at the mention of Death Eaters, of course."

Already Draco had finished his food and had house elves offering him dessert trays, which he graciously accepted.

"We get a lot of students coming down here now," continued Winky. "Some of them come all scared and shaken up and they tell us stories."

The house elf's eyes widened in sympathy and began to tear up. A couple house elves brought her a hankercheif. Brooke didn't notice many of them had gathered around them, sitting and listening. They nodded in agreement with Winky, solemn. "Their stories were terrible," she sniffed. "Some of them cry when they talk to us about it. They're too scared to go to the Great Hall or missed the meal because they were being punished or collapsed-"

Winky buried her face in her hankercheif.

Brooke lay a hand on her shoulder.

"No one's gotten in trouble coming here," Winky said. "But you should be careful, Miss. Its so frightening out there."

"Don't worry, we'll be fine."

She and Draco stood up to leave and two house elves came back with a large basket of food and a couple bottles of orange juice, pumpkin juice and butterbeer.

"Thank you so much," Brooke thanked Winky and the other house elves.

Placing the charm on the basket, Draco and herself, they left the kitchens and rushed back to the Room of Requirement.

Once they reached the room, Brooke sat on her bed.

"What's wrong?" asked Draco, putting the basket of food on the table.

"What's wrong?" Brooke looked up. "You didn't hear anything she said?"

"The students being tortured and scared?"

"Yes?"

"There are far worse things happening," he said, sitting down next to her.

Brooke narrowed her eyes at him. "Well, yes, but to them, its everything. They're only kids."

Draco scoffed. "They'll be fine. No one's going to die here or else it'll be a huge blow to the image. And we were that age once, we weren't stupid."

She shook her head and sighed. "You have absolutely no compassion, do you?"

"Not at all," he smiled.

Dealing with him would drive her crazy, so she rolled her eyes and pursed her lips.

"Okay, look," he said, leaning to get her to face him. "Hogwarts isn't a fun place for anyone at the moment, but nothing's going to change if you try to help things here because I know that's what your'e thinking about doing."

"No," she sneered. "That's precisely what's bugging me is that I _can't _do anything about it. All I can do is check Snape's office and maybe-"

"Why do you need Snape's office?"

"Not telling you, remember?"

"Right. And you don't have to tell me. I'm fine with not knowing what you're up to, but," he paused. "I'm only staying here because Hogwarts _is_ dangerous, especially for you."

"Trying to protect me?" she scathed.

"Yes," he said harsly. "Would it kill you to be a little grateful?"

Brooke threw him a look. "Well, I kind of lost my trus-"

"Yeah, yeah, can't trust me," he said dryly.

No, stop feeling this way, Brooke thought to herself and turned away from him again. "I don't," she started to say, but wanted to swallow her words. "I don't hate you."

"That's lovely to know."

"I," she turned to face him and didn't realize he was still leaning so close, "really don't."

"Don't what?" he said softly. His grey eyes flickered between her own eyes and her lips as his hand reached to graze her cheek.

"I don't," she breathed, not remembering what that phrase led to. She watched the space between shrink and shrink until their lips were barely touching.

Brooke looked down immediately in time for Draco's lips to miss hers completely.

"I'm gonna get ready for bed," she said in a high pitched voice, stood up and closed the bathroom door behind her.

* * *

**A/N: Aaaagh. I am so sorry for such a long break between chapters :( [Thanks to HogwartsCreations for reminding me to update :P & a special thanks to vampire-angel1996, opticon217, blueberrybird28, singeylove for nearly always reviewing :D & of course everyone of you that has read or reviewed 3] I really hope you like this one :D And I hope you keep reading and reviewing even though I suck for that near hiatus .**

**Anyway, I also hope you had wonderful holidays :)**

**I'm on a long winter break, so the chapters will NOT be almost a month apart any longer! Don't forget to reviewww!**


	11. A Beautiful Mess

You are strong but you're needy, humble but you're greedy  
You're style is quite selective though your mind is rather reckless  
Well I guess it just suggests that this is just what happiness is

Although you were biased I love your advice  
Your comebacks they're quick and probably have to do with your insecurities  
There's no shame in being crazy, depending on how you take these words  
I'm paraphrasing this relationship we're staging

But it's a beautiful mess, yes it is  
It's like picking up trash in dresses

Well it kind of hurts when the kind of words you say  
Kind of turn themselves into blades  
And the kind and courteous is the life I've heard  
But it's nice to say that we played in the dirt  
Cause here, here we are  
Here we are

We're still here

And it's a beautiful mess, yes it is  
It's like taking a guess when the only answer is yes

And through timeless words and priceless pictures  
We'll fly like birds not of this earth  
And tides they turn and hearts disfigure  
But that's no concern when we're wounded together  
And we tore our dresses and stained our shirts  
But its nice today, oh the wait was so worth it

Here we are

**[A Beautiful Mess by Jason Mraz]**

* * *

Leaning on the door, she took a deep breath, moving the chunk of hair behind her ear. Her heart was beating so fast, it could have been having its own seizure. She placed an ear on the door to hear if he reacted, but didn't hear much.

Now in front of the sink, Brooke silently mouthed 'WHAT' and clasped her hands to her mouth. "What just happened?" she said to herself. She stared at her reflection, hoping it had some answer, but it stared back open mouthed.

Sighing in exasperation, Brooke turned the sink on to wash her face and actually get ready to sleep.

Once she stalled enough in the bathroom, she placed a hand on the door knob, took a breath and opened it. Draco was gone.

He wasn't sitting on her bed. He wasn't in his bed. He wasn't anywhere in the room.

/

At the very top of the Astronomy Tower, a shadowy figure leaned over the railing. Although his ears were perked to hear the smallest sound, he took a deep breath and sighed. Draco hated this place. There was no way to get rid of the lingering guilt he felt at nearly every moment he was here. And now look at what he was doing. He was less than a centimeter away from making it worse.

He needed this view to show him reality. Brooke was right. Sure, it annoyed him how she only saw him as a Death Eater, but she was right and he needed to remember that.

/

Brooke woke up before he did. She saw the bundled up lump in the bed next to her and wondered if she should wake him. After slowly getting ready, Brooke took out her wand and silently crouched down in front of his face. His chest rose up and down at a steady rhythm and his arms lay lazily across. Thinking about lying in them seemed unusually calming, as if in a couple seconds, Brooke would find herself falling asleep.

She raised her wand and watched Draco's features morph in front of her eyes.

Midway through her breakfast at the Great Hall, Draco walked in and sat down at the Slytherin table.

Shouldn't she go over and say something?

Or no, he should be the one coming over here. It _was _his fault after all. She wasn't the one leaning over him or brushing her hand on his soft cheek or looking at him with that…that burning, longing intensity.

A piercing screech startled her out of her seat. Of course, Brooke sighed in her head. Parkinson's laughter was something unbearably distinct. Off in the Slytherin table, she threw her head back in a fit of giggles and her hand clutching the middle of her chest. Apparently both she and both Greengrass sisters were in the middle of an amusing joke told by a lean, broad chinned, brown haired boy.

Brooke immediately stood up from her seat.

Then, she sat back down and ran her fingers through her hair to avoid the surprised glances from fellow Gryffindors.

She poked at her eggs for a little bit, not hungry anymore and left when she saw him get up.

"Ahem," Brooke stalked after Draco.

"Hrm?" he turned around with the sickening smile that always made her want to punch him.

"What do you think you're doing?" she narrowed her eyes.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Oh, shut up," she said. "You know talking to them is going to make them question you more and more until they find out exactly who you are."

"Maybe I want them to," he shrugged carelessly.

Brooke pursed her lips and gave him the dirtiest stare she could muster up.

Draco's expression fell and he sighed. "Alright, alright, I was joking. They think I'm a sixth year that they haven't gotten the chance to meet yet."

"Yeah, while the group of fourth year Hufflepuffs think you're one of them. Good idea, Draco," she scathed.

"Don't worry, okay?" he said. "You'll be done with your thing in no time and they'll never see us again."

She stopped and crossed her arms as he trotted away from her.

"Library in a two hours," she called, "And don't be late!"

He waved without turning around.

"Asshole," she muttered.

Sighing, Brooke stood, wondering what she should do. She really should start checking out the castle. He was right only in that respect.

Maybe she could go and visit Winky and ask them later in the night again.

There and try to get some information from the teachers and if she's lucky, find out a couple things from Snape. Anything about Horcruxes, how to kill them or where Harry, Ron and Hermione might be. She needed to keep those objectives clear in her mind.

"I can't believe we've never met him before," laughed Parkinson.

She and the Greengrasses were just leaving the Great Hall.

"He's not that bad looking, either," smiled Greengrass.

"Yeah, well you can have him. Draco'll be back anytime."

Brooke frowned. "She's still after him?" she whispered to herself.

"You're so lucky," Greengrass shook her head. "The Dark Lord's right hand man all for you."

Parkinson shrugged her shoulders with a smug look on her face.

"You'd think you would've noticed him after six years, Astoria," said her older sister.

"He was never in any of my classes," she said. "But I guess I wasn't looking hard enough."

"Go for it," winked Parkinson. "He's funny, sexy and a Slytherin. If I didn't have Draco, _I'd_ go for him."

Astoria smiled to herself.

"So, lucky you," said Parkinson, sashaying ahead as the other two trailed behind her.

Brooke smirked. Pansy Parkinson and Astoria Greengrass? They had no chance. Parkinson was purely an unpleasant girl, while her face was too pug-like than delicate. Greengrass, on the other hand, had grown nicely into her features, accompanied by a sleek head of brown hair. Brooke need not worry, though. She'd be after a boy who would disappear in a couple days.

During class times, Brooke tried to avoid dwelling on the first and second floors where most classrooms were located. She watched, trying to find when and where McGonagall, Amycus, Alecto or any of the other wizards on patrol would be. Tracking down Snape, however, had failed miserably. She hadn't the slightest clue as to whether or not he was in the castle today.

After stalking McGonagall's office and peeking around the Headmaster's tower, Brooke sneaked back down to the fourth floor and headed into the library.

"And you told me not to be late," said Draco, sitting in a far corner.

Brooke rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand.

"I'm sorry, did you need to be somewhere? With your girls, maybe?" she smirked.

"I'm meeting them for lunch, actually," he smirked back.

She immediately pursed her lips and crossed her arms. "I wouldn't normally care, but this is kind of putting us in danger, if you hadn't been listening to a word I've said."

"Calm down," he said. "I'm won't be hanging around my friends, just little Greengrass."

"Why?" Brooke questioned.

He shrugged. "Ran into her as she was going to the bathroom and she asked. Why do you care?"

"I don't," she smiled haughtily. "Like I said, if this were any other time, I wouldn't give a rat's ass. However, that's not the case. Our lives are at risk, so I'd prefer you not running around the castle flirting with each of the Slytherin girls, thanks."

"If this were any other time, I'd think you were jealous," he said as the corners of his mouth tilted upwards.

"Ha," Brooke looked at him. "You're funny."

After she transfigured both their faces and set another time to meet, Brooke continued down the stairs until the second floor. Checking both ways before proceeding into the corridor, she hurried into the bathroom.

Quiet and empty, the room looked exactly the same. The white shiny tiles gleamed back the sun's reflection. Walking at a normal pace, Brooke passed through the green stalls, making sure she was alone.

"Myrtle?" she echoed off the walls. "Moaning Myrtle?"

She listened for any sound of the ghost, but her impatience couldn't wait when no one answered back. As soon as she made for the door, a blue misty figure flew in front of her.

"Who is disturbing me? I was taking a nice swim in the pipes under the lake," pouted Myrtle.

"Sorry, but I need you to do me a favor."

"A favor? I don't just _do_ favors," she looked Brooke up and down.

"Please, Myrtle," said Brooke. "It's really important."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"I need you to keep an eye out for Snape and tell me when he's in the castle," Brooke said, glancing at the doors.

"Why?" she looked at her suspiciously.

"Because I have to get into his office," she said simply.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?"

"If I tell you, you can't tell _anyone._ Same goes for this whole meeting."

Myrtle didn't seem convinced.

"If you help me, in a way, you're really helping Harry Potter," she mentioned.

"What do you mean?" Myrtle asked slowly.

"I mean, I'm a close friend of his, an ally," Brooke explained. "And not only do I need your help, so does Harry."

At this notion, Myrtle agreed and Brooke revealed who she was. She dodged plenty of her questions, giving a vague idea of why she was at Hogwarts without the rest. With Moaning Myrtle on the lookout, all she needed to do now was figure out Harry, Hermione and Ron's whereabouts.

Coming out of the bathroom, Brooke saw students about and realized it was time for lunch.

She still found it so strange to be walking around Hogwarts. The people she normally would have smiled and waved at, passed by without any acknowledgement. And although Brooke spent some of her time at Hogwarts by herself, she missed the usual presence of her best friends.

Instead, she had to be around the boy she undoubtedly did not want to be around.

And even still, he was off parading around the castle like his old self.

Except Draco was now hanging around Astoria Greengrass in the courtyard for lunch. They had their half eaten lunch in hand, sitting side by side and laughing.

Soon, she found herself headed straight towards them.

They looked up.

"Hey," Brooke smiled.

"Hi," Draco said slowly, eyeing her.

Turning to Astoria, she extended her hand. "Hi."

"Hi," she replied. After hesitantly shaking her hand, Astoria glanced questioningly at Draco.

"Meet me in that one empty broom closet for another _round_?" Brooke asked Draco, intentionally choosing her words. "Instead of the library, since it's more...private."

He stared at her incredulously. "Sure."

"Can't wait," she winked.

Then, she kept walking towards the Great Hall, leaving Astoria in an unsettling and suspicious state.

It was both a satisfying, yet knowingly wrong feeling. Maybe she shouldn't have done that. She shrugged it off and sat down at the Gryffindor table.

Usually, her head would be drowning in thoughts and trying to decipher her actions, but she almost felt happily careless. What would good would come out of all that thinking? She and Draco would still be one messed up relationship, so there was no need to get worked up over anything anymore.

Poor girl. Better this way than having him disappear in a couple days.

Someone sat next to her.

"What was all that about?" Draco asked.

"I think you're sitting at the wrong table," Brooke laughed.

"That didn't seem at all like you back there."

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"With Astoria? The tone, the words, the _winking_?" he raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Why would you- are you jealous or something?"

"Of Astoria Greengrass?" Brooke looked at him.

He narrowed his eyes. "I don't get you."

Brooke kept listening and glancing up between bites of food.

"You're always angry at me and turned away when I tried to kiss you and now you're going around, acting as if we're together to chase away anyone else that could be potentially fancying me," he shook his head. "Everything would be so much easier if you were just straightforward for once."

"Me being straightforward?" Brooke snapped, putting down her fork, "What about you? The one who almost kissed me if I hadn't stopped it and then goes around the day after talking to a bunch of other Slytherin girls? What about that?"

"I'm sorry, did you not kissing me actually meant that you felt the same way?" he said sarcastically.

"Well it's a good thing I didn't kiss you, since you obviously got over that pretty quickly," she scathed.

"Am I supposed to wait around for you?" he asked defensively. "If you really did want to be with me, then _yes_, instead of prancing around with another girl," Brooke said, feeling her cheeks turn red.

"Oh and you didn't do that with Goldstein?" Draco glared.

"You broke up with me!" she flared at him.

"And you seemed like you got over that pretty quickly," he said quietly.

"You know damn well that I didn't."

"It didn't stop you from snogging him for five months."

"Like you stopped snogging that cow Parkinson! You two started going out way before me and Anthony."

"Hardly," he scoffed. "She's been all over since year one."

"You fell for it! Or I'm sorry," Brooke mocked, "did you kissing her mean you actually didn't feel the same way?"

"Did it for you and Anthony?" he retorted.

"It always felt like there was _something_ wrong and I felt like hell for it," she whispered fiercely as her eyes heated up, "but I tried to move on from you and you just wouldn't let me."

With no outward response from Draco, Brooke stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Just so you know, I wanted to kiss you yesterday. But how am I supposed to know that you won't stab me in the back again?"

Her steps echoes amongst the chatter of the students as she left the Great Hall. The only place she knew to go to was the library. Sitting by the lake felt more suitable, but it was bound to be watched by Death Eaters. She walked right by Madame Pince. By now, she thought she must look like a regular bookworm instead of a new, suspicious face.

Heading to her usual corner in the library, her eyes caught on a newspaper sitting on one of the study desks. It rang an alarm in her head and made her legs speed over to it as fast as she could.

Harry and Hermione's pictures were moving on the front page of the _Daily Prophet_.

**Undesirable Number One Spotted**

Harry Potter and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry classmate, Hermione Granger have been seen briefly around the area of Godric's Hollow late Christmas Day. Their current whereabouts are unknown. Potter, having been missing for the past months, is escaping on charges of assault, damage of public property and other major crimes. He is known to be traveling with two classmates, Granger and Ronald Weasley. Witnesses have only confirmed the sightings of two, while none have reported the capture or death of the latter. The young Weasley has been assumed in hiding, abandoned, missing or dead.

The capture of any of the three criminals is crucial and must be reported to the Ministry of Magic as soon as possible. Any persons withholding information will be punished.

"I thought you'd be in here," someone said.

Brooke held the newspaper in her hand, rereading it over and over.

"Brooke?" Draco tried getting her attention. "I know you don't to talk to me right now, but I think I deserve some kind of hear out."

When she didn't respond, he turned her around himself. She handed him the newspaper.

"Godric's Hollow?" he asked, reading. "Are you going to go and find them?"

"Are you crazy?" she said. "It's probably on even more careful radar now than ever."

"Well, now you know where they were," he gave back the paper.

"Did you read it?" Brooke snatched it from his hands. "Ron wasn't with them."

Brooke sat down at the table, watching Harry and Hermione's pictures moving. She wished she could just ask them what was going on. Where were they? Did they find anything in Godric's Hollow or where else? And what on earth happened to Ron? They certainly wouldn't abandon him, even if he was being a jerk.

Worry escalated and Brooke prayed he was still alive somewhere.

"What if- what if he got kidnapped or…" her eyes grew wide and her mind began to imagine every possible way Ron's death could have occurred.

"Brooke, it's going to be okay," said Draco, alarmed by her sudden panic. He sat down next to her and looked at the newspaper. "Look, it says no one's reported him dead or anything."

"So? You don't get it. There are so many other things that could have happened to him without being publicized," said Brooke. "What we were doing- what they're doing right now, you couldn't imagine how dangerous it all is."

"It hasn't been a vacation on the other side of that either."

Brooke wasn't sure if she should leave Hogwarts now and start searching for them or stay until she was finished checking the castle. A small part of her felt as though she were cheating Harry, Ron and Hermione. While they were on the run finding Horcruxes, she was residing in a castle.

"Where could they have gone?" she said aloud.

"If a million people haven't found them yet, how could you find them by yourself?"

"I _should_ be able to," she argued.

"I just think you should stop worrying about them and do whatever you came here to do. Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll give you some sort of clue, right?"

And just like that, the two were back on civil terms and never even mentioned the conversation they had in the Great Hall. Brooke was much too occupied with making her own plan to find or at least communicate with Harry and Hermione somehow.

To her surprise, Draco was more than open to helping her out in any way possible, even if it meant just emotional support.

What Brooke really had been waiting for was Myrtle's heads up about Snape in the castle. Her hope resided in any clues or information he would say or hold in his office. She thought maybe Dumbledore's old things would still be in the Headmaster's tower, since Snape was apparently never at the castle.

The Carrows, it seemed, carried orders to teach at Hogwarts and that was all. She and Draco followed them closely the rest of the day and found nothing helpful.

They retreated to their room, even though Brooke knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep until she had a set plan in her mind. Right now, everything was based on guesses.

Brooke looked around.

"Where's the bed?"

She turned around, even peering into the corners.

"Where'd my bed go?"

"Maybe someone else is in here," said Draco quietly, proceeding towards the bathroom on his tiptoes.

"Why would they make-"

"Shh!"

Brooke rolled her eyes, but followed silently behind him nonetheless. With the Death Eater's wand out in front of him, Draco swiftly opened the bathroom door and raised his wand.

There was no one in there.

"It might just be a malfunction in the room," suggested Brooke.

"It's magic, not a machine."

"Well, do you have any other explanation besides someone breaking into a practically unbreakable room?" she folded her arms.

Draco continued to get himself comfortable for bed.

"We need a second bed, thank you," Brooke said aloud, hoping the room would fix its mistake.

But it didn't. There stayed the one twin sized bed.

"Look, I'll take the floor," offered Draco. "It's no big deal."

"It's my bed that's missing," pointed out Brooke. "I'm perfectly fine with the floor."

"Or you can stop being proud and trying to prove yourself and just let me do with my bed as I please," said Draco. "And I'm offering it you."

"And I'm thanking you, but refusing."

"Just take it!" he said sharply.

"Alright alright," Brooke sat down on his bed. "Sheesh. And you don't have to try to prove yourself either. I get it. You're sorry."

"I'm not trying to prove myself," he said, taking his socks off. "Just doing what I should be."

He was facing away from her on the wooden floor. It didn't look like a comfortable place to sleep at all.

"Thanks," Brooke said.

A dark green sleeping bag and a blanket appeared next to the side table.

"Oh," she said, surprised. "It can give us that, but not my bed back."

Draco shrugged.

The room was dark, lit only by the moonlight from the window. She stared at him lying on the floor. It was like there were two completely opposite persons living in him. One that she despised, with his arrogant smirk, his sneer, his wavering loyalties.

Except he didn't really have a wavering loyalty when it came to her. All of a sudden everything Draco had said about staying with her at the castle made apparent sense.

There weren't two sides to him. He was just Draco. And if one "side" disappeared- even the smirk, the sneer and the Dark Mark on his arm, Brooke would miss it.

"Draco?"

"Hm?

"Thanks, again," she said. "For calming me down today. I kind of resort to the worst possible thing that can happen, like I'm preparing myself for it." "Yeah, I understand," he replied. "No problem."

She still didn't feel prepared for anything. Ron, or any of them, might never hear what Brooke wanted to tell, in. When her father died, she often replayed the last time she saw him. He was standing in front of their door, ready to leave. She smiled, knowing the last thing he said was that he loved her mother and her. What she found bitterly funny was that Draco was one of the last things he mentioned to her.

"He said not to let you get to me," she said.

"What?" he mumbled.

"My father said to not let 'that boy' get to me," she repeated. "It was one of the last things he said."

She laughed.

"I guess I never followed his advice," she continued.

His head was still turned the other way.

"Draco, if something happened to either of us and we never got to see each other again," she said, feeling her chest sink to the thought of, "I'd want you to know that through all the hell we've been through…I would go through it a million times over because it would mean being with you."

He didn't reply or move and Brooke thought he might have fallen asleep, so she tossed in her bed and closed her eyes.

As she accepted her fault of an awkward moment, Brooke heard the sleeping bag ruffle and felt her bed moving. She turned around to see Draco climbing into her bed.

She looked at him questioningly.

He didn't say anything. He only draped the blanket over both of them and put his arms around her. Brooke nestled her head into his neck and fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N: Helloo :) Hopefully this extra long chapter makes up for my long pauses between posts . Anyway, thanks to all you that review. I was amazingly happy when I woke up to about 5 reviews the morning after I posted. & please keep REVIEWING & READING!**

**ps. the song featured is one of my ultimate favorites, which is why I put almost the whole song. it's quite beautiful & i hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  
**


	12. The First Riot

_Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out_  
_ Till my legs give out, can't shut my mouth._  
_ Till the smoke clears out, am I high? Perhaps_  
_ I'ma rip this sh- till my bone collapse._  
_ Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out_  
_ Till my legs give out, can't shut my mouth._  
_ Till the smoke clears out and my high burn out_  
_ I'ma rip this sh- till my bone collapse._

_I will not fall,_  
_ I will stand tall,_  
_ Feels like no one could beat me. _

**[Till I Collapse by Eminem]**

* * *

Sunlight fell on her shoulder and the familiar warm scent brought her lips to a smile. Draco was still sleeping with his arms loosely around her. Brooke didn't want to wake up. She wanted the moon to stay down and let them lay there for just a couple more hours.

Her deep breath and slight movement made Draco's eyes groggily open.

What he did next made Brooke filled with bliss.

He smiled.

"Morning," he groaned, stretching a bit.

"Morning," she smiled.

She wanted to say something, but she couldn't think of what. Their prolonging stares at each other were too much of a distracting, yet wonderfully guilty pleasure. Maybe she should ask him what he felt about the whole situation now that he's woken up. And if he wanted to stay in bed all day just like she did.

Brooke had looked at Draco before, no doubt. How would she have been able to talk to him all this time? But this was completely different. It had been more than a year that she got to stare at every detail in his eyes without feeling the anxiety filled rush of a battle going on around them.

It was quiet.

Finally, they were alone.

Draco leaned in and kissed her on the nose. He tilted his head back down and his lips were just about to brush across her own.

Suddenly the door flew open and shut itself close. The two jolted up from the pillows and came face to face with a tall boy in Gryffindor robes.

He gasped, contorting his malformed face in surprise and confusion. Around his eye was a swollen purple bruise along with cuts in a couple places and through it, Brooke finally recognized who it was.

"Brooke? How did you get in here?" he asked. "And with Malfoy?"

He suddenly turned a slight shade of pink in the untouched places in his face. It seemed he knew he ran into something of an awkward situation.

"Neville?" she exclaimed, throwing the covers off of her. "How did you get in here?"

"I was looking for a place to hide out for a while," he explained.

"And what happened to your face?"

"Oh that," he shrugged. "It's nothing. But where's Harry, Ron and Hermione? You couldn't have been in here all year or we would've noticed."

"I'll explain everything," she said, "but you have to promise me to not say _anything_ to _anyone_ about this."

"I won't, I promise," he ensured. "I can't leave this place anyway or at least not for a while."

"Why not?"

"Got into a bit of trouble with the Carrows, as you can see," he pointed at his injuries, "and for a while I thought they could tolerate me, but I don't know anymore. It's best if I just stay out of sight if I don't want them to kill me off."

Brooke's eyebrows raised. "That bad?"

He nodded. "So what's up with you? We've all been wondering what's going on."

"It's a long story," she sighed. "Well, Draco and I ended up stranded together when I lost the others."

Draco had been sitting on his side of the bed, just listening.

"Lost them doing what?" he asked.

"Well, just," she thought for a moment, "just things in not quite safe places, I guess."

He accepted the mystery and looked at the door appearing next to the bathroom. Opening it, he revealed a separate bedroom, identical to the main one he stood in.

"This should be useful," Neville stepped inside.

"Wow," Brooke turned towards Draco. "A whole bedroom, but not just one bed."

He gave a little smile and stood up from the bed, already gathering his clothes to change into.

"We're probably going to go down to the Great Hall," she called to Neville in the other room. "Do you want us to get you anything?"

"That'd be great, actually," he replied. "Thanks."

Then, his head popped out from the doorway.

"How are you going to get out of here? Or, how've you been getting around with, you know, looking like you guys?"

"I've been practicing facial transfiguration," she explained. "It's not a great plan, but being temporary it should be fine."

After Brooke changed once Draco was done in the bathroom, she showed Neville the charms. His astonished compliments made Brooke even more proud and confident in her transfiguration skills. Even though it was only their third day at Hogwarts, she extended the life span of the spell from three hours to nine.

"You're awfully quiet," she said to Draco when they left the Room of Requirement.

"Oh," he instantaneously moved his face to a conscious state, "am I?"

"Just a little," she replied. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" he asked.

Brooke knew when people were lying, especially if it's an agreement. It was just how people were. If it isn't a convincing yes, it's a no. But, she decided not to pursue any further.

They reached the Great Hall before breakfast was over and managed to conceal a half loaf of bread, some bacon, a stack of waffles and a jug of orange juice to take back to Neville.

The avoidance of the blaring topic made Brooke more uneasy with every passing minute it wasn't brought up. She wasn't sure what she wanted to talk about. She just wanted some kind of acknowledgement that it actually happened or more so, that he wanted it to happen. How else was she supposed to know where they were going from here?

Did she want to go any further?

Her dignity told her no with a high chin and its arms crossed. Falling in love with Draco Malfoy was a terrible idea the first time, much less for the fourth time.

Once they were finished eating, rather quickly she noticed, Draco took the basket of food from her hand.

"Thanks," she said.

He nodded.

They reached the sixth floor when Draco said, "I'm sorry. And I know I say that a lot, but…"

"Wait, for what?" Brooke asked confusedly.

Draco had been thinking about it all morning, but couldn't translate the thoughts into words. "Erm…Just for last night, I guess."

"Why are you apologizing?" she asked hesitantly, feeling like it was the point between getting back together or leaving it as is.

"Well," he said, "I know you didn't want to be like that again."

"Technically," she began to say slowly, "I didn't say I didn't _want_ to. Or I didn't- I kind of wanted to, but not- I guess, I wasn't- or am not sure…just yet...kind of."

Brooke couldn't blame him for the perplexed expression he had. She thought she was crazy too.

They left it at that, however, with the vague loose endings of her sentence that mirrored exactly where their relationship was at.

"Thanks," said Neville in relief when she gave him the basket of food, "I didn't have time to eat at all this morning."

"What are you going to do?" she asked worriedly. "Stay in here forever? Cause we might leave sometime soon and you certainly can't go out into the castle."

"Seamus knows I'm in here and so do the D.A." he shrugged. "We kind of knew this sort of thing was going to happen at some point, so yesterday I called a meeting. We set the room as both a practice and hide out place."

"Yes, but how long do you think you can hold out for?" she asked, thinking about how long it might take Harry to finally find and destroy all the Horcruxes.

"We'll figure it out," he stated.

From the door, Draco said, "I'm gonna," and gestured at the door.

"Oh, where're you going?"

"Just out, somewhere. Kind of been in the room for too long," he shrugged.

"Alright," she said, killing her curiosity.

He left the room, leaving Brooke to the sound of Neville eating his breakfast. Being the substitute leader of the D.A. and putting himself in danger for it, Brooke felt an obligation to tell him what was going on with Harry, Ron and Hermione. She knew better, however, to leave all information to herself. It might not have been the most efficient way to go about their search, but it surely was the safest.

The two sat in the room, quiet.

"So," Neville swallowed a bite of toast, "how've you been doing? You know, with all that?" He gestured his head towards the closed door.

Brooke sighed, half smiling, half shaking her head. "Interesting, I'd say. It's pretty much what you'd expect."

"Well, you could easily get rid of him, I'm sure."

"Of course I can," she said without hesitation. "What's strange is that I'm not sure why I haven't yet."

She felt Neville staring at her in disbelief, but saw that his mouth was slightly smiling and his eyebrows furrowed.

"What?"

He shook his head and put the basket of food on the floor.

"Nothing," he chuckled.

"No, really. What?" she persisted.

"Okay, but promise you won't get mad at me for saying?"

"Yeah, of course. Why would I get mad?" "Well," he began to say hesitantly. "I'm not at all an expert on relationships and I've never been too fond of Malfoy- sorry. But, I always thought that if I ever, somehow gotten myself into a relationship, I'd want it to be like yours."

Brooke raised her eyebrows. "_Are you mad_? It's a nightmare of a time being how we are."

"Yeah and despite all that, anyone can tell that you guys would do anything for each other," he explained sheepishly.

"But we don't!" she said, flabbergasted. "It's almost the exact opposite. He nearly killed me last year and I highly doubt that embodies a perfect relationship _anyone_ should admire."

"Well, then why are you guys still together?" he asked.

"We're not!" she exclaimed. "He's absolutely vile and confusing and I'm quite surprised that I've been able to stand all of it for so long."

Neville just shrugged.

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

"'The magical composition of a patronus is not based as heavily on the wand or wizards' power as it is focused on the will power and/or memory,'" Brooke kept mouthing to herself as she reread the text in front of her.

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap-tap. Tap. Tap._

She looked up and glared at the student at a nearby table and their incessant quill tapping. Brooke closed the book, unable to focus any longer.

She still couldn't believe that Neville actually _looked up_ to she and Draco as a couple. The pressure of having that kind of influence was overwhelming for one, but having that idealistic relationship be between her and Draco? Why on earth would anyone want something remotely similar when neither of them were happy?

They were a mess; sleeping in the same bed together and barely talking or seeing each other the next day?

Turning the knob of the sink in the bathroom, Brooke turned around and jumped upon seeing Moaning Myrtle staring directly behind her.

"Myrtle!" Brooke exclaimed. "A simple cough would've been a nice warning."

"I've been trying to look for you all day," the floating ghost scolded. "Professor Snape's back in the castle. I overheard the new teachers, the Carrows, talking about meeting with him later tonight."

"He's here?" Brooke's eyes widened.

"Most likely," said Myrtle. "I only heard that he'll be meeting with them sometime tonight."

"Thank you so much, Myrtle," said Brooke, hurriedly rushing out the door. A sense of panic arose in her chest, knowing how unprepared she was for this, but long she anticipated it.

There was no plan.

And winging it was never her specialty; that was Harry's.

Brooke wasn't even sure where she was striding off too, she just knew she had to start moving.

Hurrying through the corridor, she nearly ran into Draco. His walking pace matched her own sense of panic.

"Thank goodness!" Brooke sighed. "Guess who's in the castle finally?"

"Snape," said Draco automatically. "Yeah, I just ran into him."

"What?" she exclaimed. "Did he recognize you? Did you talk to him?"

"No, I just kept my head down and sped off," he said with uncertainty.

Brooke sighed in exasperation. "That wouldn't have made him suspicious."

"I'm sorry," he said defensively. "So what do we do now?"

"Erm," she bit her lip and looked around the castle for answers.

Draco stared at her for a couple seconds before growing impatient.

"You mean after all this waiting, you don't even know what to do?" he asked.

She groaned.

"We're getting into that office, that's one thing for sure," she said confidently.

"Alright, but not this way," he took her arm and rushed back where Brooke came from. "He was heading back into his office, so doing that right now is a bad idea."

Brooke frowned, trying to clear her head from the pressure of time constraints. How in the world are they going to sneak in without Snape finding out who they were?

She grabbed his hand and led him back to the Room of Requirement.

"We need to pack up our stuff."

"This is the stupidest idea, I hope you know," Draco whispered in her ear.

"A while ago you were complaining I didn't have a plan, so here it is," she whispered back. The two were crouched behind the short ledge separating the castle hall and the courtyard. Already transfigured and sitting side by side like a normal Hogwarts fifth year couple, just in case someone spotted them.

Sighing, Brooke swiveled around her large vial, watching the thick potion slosh around inside.

"You got lucky," Draco said, staring at his own vial.

Brooke smiled. "I know."

Neville and the D.A. had been preparing for anything that could happen from the start of the school year. They managed to stock up on all kind of potions, items and of course, a memorization of a load of spells. When Brooke and Draco burst into the Room of Requirement, throwing all their things in one spot, she told him the plan.

Like Draco said, she was definitely lucky. Neville quickly brandished a portion of their stock of Polyjuice potion.

The plan seemed reckless to go through after only a couple hours of thinking it up, but it was all they had. So, they waited for the Carrows to leave their office.

They waited only 20 minutes more until they heard the sound of a door knob turn. Quickly, but making no quick movements, Brooke and Draco raised their wands above the ledge.

"Stupefy!" they yelled and waited for two thuds to the ground before rising from their hiding spot.

Amycus and Alecto Carrow lay clumsily on the ground a couple feet from their door. They wasted no time observing the result of their wand work and dragged the bodies back into the classroom. Thankfully, most of the students making their way back into the common rooms after dinner and the teachers were in their own offices, preparing for the next lesson.

In the back corner of the classroom, she and Draco sat up the siblings, half hidden behind a wooden cabinet. She bound them magically and pointed at Amycus's temple.

"Obliviate," Brooke said, feeling the memories whisk away into her wand.

"Again?" Draco nearly yelped at her. "You know that could permanently damage their memories, right?"

"Its either that or we get caught," she retorted, pointing her wand at Alecto.

"We should be long gone before they wake up anyway."

"Too late," Brooke shrugged. A small part of her agreed with Draco, but the satisfying vengeful feeling rushed through her. "They deserved it." She retracted her wand and stood over the limp woman. These were lucky Death Eaters.

For a second, Draco and Brooke locked gazes. He looked at her with a slight surprise that made Brooke's insides squirm with guilt. She bent down and plucked a hair from each of the Carrows.

She dropped Alecto's dry and graying strand of hair into the potion and watched it bubble to a dirty light brown. Draco did the same, his face contorted with disgust.

"One gulp?" Brooke raised her glass.

Draco looked doubtful, but downed his potion anyway.

At once, the potion was a nauseating salty sour taste in her mouth. She held back her gagging reflex hard until the vial emptied, sticking out her tongue when it was all gone.

Her body began to feel heavier as her arms and legs grew plump while her stomach expanded to round out her whole figure.

Next to her, Draco seemed to grow taller while she shrunk to three fourths his size. He barely finished his potion, biting his lip to swallow the last mouthful.

"Ugh," he handed her the vial. His face shallowed and stretched to match that of Amycus. His height didn't change all too much, but he looked gigantic from this level. Amycus's arms were a bit longer, however, leaving Draco's sleeves end just below his elbow. The Dark Mark shadowed underneath it.

That was the only thing that hadn't changed from the transformation.

They changed into the Carrows' robes, stuffing the vials and their own robes into Brooke's knapsack.

Hurrying into the hall, they sped off towards the Headmaster's tower, delaying actual Carrows' expected arrival by ten minutes. Once they stood in front of the stone gargoyle, they stared.

Brooke sighed and closed her eyes. "We forgot to get the password out of them. All this and we still can't even get in."

Suddenly the gargoyle leapt aside and a man in black robes walked out.

She and Draco stared back at Snape, frozen in their oddly fitting shoes.

"You're late," he said with his narrowed black eyes and turned back into the staircase.

"Willow," he said to the gargoyle, stepping into the narrow passage.

The office looked the same except for the noticeable absence of the random trinkets Dumbledore used to keep around and of course, Dumbledore's docile portrait added to the wall.

"We're sorry for the delay, Pr- Severus," Brooke explained.

"Lost track of time," added Draco.

"Very well, then," Snape said, only looking up at them after a long moment of silence. "So?"

Brooke stared back through Alecto's baggy eyes. Of course Snape had some reason for the Carrows to speak to him.

"Erm," she croaked.

"Anything strange in the castle?" Snape explained, annoyed.

"Oh," Brooke breathed in relief. "No, well, except for a couple outspoken students, but we put them in their place." She organized her mouth into a cruel smile.

Snape only nodded. "And what about the boy?"

"The boy?" she asked.

He barely held in his impatience. "The Malfoys' son, Draco? I asked you to keep an eye out after his kidnapping at the Manor?"

"Oh, of course, of course," she recovered quickly. "No, no sign or word of him."

He nodded again. "I'll be bringing bad news to Lucius and Narcissa, then."

"Are they worried?" asked Draco without hesitation.

Snape looked up slowly, with an expression Brooke prayed wasn't suspicion. "Increasingly."

"And are we to assume all is well with the Dark Lord?" Brooke asked, changing the subject.

"He is getting more impatient by the minute, obviously," said Snape. "The longer he is to finding what he needs, the longer he is from killing Potter."

"What is he looking for?"

"You know that the Dark Lord does not like to disclose much information."

Brooke nodded.

"And what about Potter? All we've gotten is a couple headlines from the _Daily Prophet_," she said, not hiding her curiosity.

"As I said, the Dark Lord is growing impatient," replied Snape.

"And Ron…Weasley?" she hastily added his last name, "Did they ever figure out what happened to him?"

Snape stared at her. Now he was definitely suspicious.

A loud clanking and crashing echoed below them, with cackling and mixed war cries. The three of them shared a suspicious glance before heading to the door to check what was going on.

Brooke and Draco didn't need to see, however, for they knew exactly what was going on.

The two trailed after Snape down the stairs to find the corridor in complete chaos. Portraits were screaming and yelling in confusion. Peeves whisked around the air, clanking everything he could lay his hands on. The knights of armor were pushed down onto the floor or dismantled, enchanted to roll around in no particular direction. An odor similar to long left alone wet fabric reeked in the air.

The fake snitches and round glasses suspended in the air were Brooke's favorite; an act of support towards Harry that Neville suggested.

And "Dumbledore's Army," was emblazoned onto the wall.

Snape was taken aback and dashed into the corridor to gain some kind of control over Peeves and the numerous students astonished at the scene.

Making sure Snape was fully occupied, Brooke and Draco sneaked back up the stairs and ran to the gargoyle as quickly as their new legs could take them.

"Willow," Brooke panted.

As soon as the gargoyle moved, they ran inside and began searching the office.

"What are we looking for, anyway?" asked Draco, uncertainly looking through the cabinets.

"Anything," said Brooke from the desk, shuffling papers around. Hogwarts paperwork for staff, new Headmaster file, status reports on supplies, nothing useful. Her eyes scanned for any black looking pouch or locket sized container.

Draco moved over to the desk as well, and wrenched open the drawers.

On the bookshelves, Brooke recognized a couple of Dumbledore's old books and found that the random pieces of parchment stuffed between them were a couple of old reports or stories.

"Hey, I found Dumbledore's will," Draco peeked over the edge of the desk and held up the long rolled up parchment.

Brooke went over and recognized it to be the same one Rufus Scrimgeour brought to the Burrow. Then her eyes widened at the book in Draco's hands.

"You'd probably enjoy this," he tilted the golden book to reveal the title.

_Professional Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch.

Her eyes locked onto the thin book, gently taking it from Draco's hands and running her hand over the cover.

"It's mine," she said.

"Well, technically, it's Snape's, but seeing as we're ransacking his office anyway, might as well take it," Draco said.

"No," Brooke shook her head. "It's actually mine. Dumbledore left it to me in his will."

"How did it get here?"

"I have no idea. It was in the tent when the Snatchers got us," she explained.

Footsteps began to grow louder up the stairs. The D.A. should have already made it back to the Room of Requirement before Snape went down the floor, so it couldn't have been them.

Draco's eyes grew in fear.

"Time to go," she said, stuffing the rolled up parchment and book into her bag and grabbing Draco's arm.

Someone was already beyond the gargoyle, about to be inside the headmaster's office in a couple seconds. They were out of time.

Brooke threw the bag over her shoulder and aimed her wand at the door.

"Plan B," she said.

The large steel door opened.

"Incarcerous!" Draco yelled, pointing his wand at their feet.

"Impedimenta!" Brooke said simultaneously.

Amycus Carrow slowed in his steps suddenly, falling on the floor and toppling Alecto Carrow behind him. Draco's curse hit Snape, who caught himself on the doorway.

They dashed toward them, pushing Snape out of the way and jumping over the lump of the Carrows. Brooke threw the knapsack off of her and into Draco's arms.

"Go!" she whispered hastily.

He stared at her in worry, pulling the bag across his own back.

"I'll be fine, just go and wait for me in the room!"

Draco's expression didn't change, but he nodded in consent once she transfigured into a tiger. Brooke watched as he disappeared into the hall.

"Okay," she breathed, preparing herself to run. Her ears could hear Snape and the Carrows coming after them. She let them get a full glance at her before taking off down the stairs. The slipperiness of the castle floors nearly sent her body flying down into the wall, but she grazed her nails to create as much friction possible. Leaping the last flight of stairs, Brooke began her circle around the sixth floor, dodging curious students. Snape was sending spell after spell while catching up to her. The Carrows weren't behind him.

Brooke reached the staircase leading back up the seventh floor when she encountered the Carrows standing across from her. She picked up her speed, trusting that even a slight intimidation would delay them from drawing their wands. Then, she leapt high, shifting her weight to land in the exact spot right on top of them. They collapsed under her and Brooke didn't take a moment to think before jumping on the already moving staircase.

Her arms made on the first step, but the rest of her tiger body hung below. She didn't dare to look down at the six story hole threatening to engulf her, but her claws were slipping off the granite. Brooke transfigured back, hoping the skin on her fingers were enough to catch a grip. It wasn't working though. Her fingers were smooth against the floor. She was going to fall.

Hands suddenly enclosed around her and pulled her up.

"You're gonna give me a heart attack," gasped Draco, hurrying her up the stairs.

The slow moving staircase had to delay Snape and the Carrows, giving them more than enough time to get into the Room of Requirement and disappear.

Draco threw open the door and Brooke shut it once they were in. A dozen of the D.A. came outside of their hiding spots among the cluttered cathedral sized room.

Neville stood in the middle of the room next to the vanishing cabinet.

"Everything worked out?" he asked, opening the door.

Brooke nodded. "Thanks so much, Neville. We'll be back, okay? Be careful around here!"

"We will," he reassured, "and so should you."

She smiled and fixed herself smushed up next to Draco in the cabinet. The door shut.

"Harmonia nectere passus," Neville's voice was slightly muffled.

For a moment, the world stood completely silent.

* * *

**A/N: Yes. I know I haven't posted in an amazingly long time :( Sorry! It's just a little harder to squeeze in writing time, but here you go! Hopefully the double length makes up for it. Please tell me what you think of it by reviewing! :D So keep reading & reviewing! Thanks! :) Ps. The song seems a bit random, but I've just been on an Eminem spree, so that should explain it. Ahaha. Review! 3  
**


	13. My Little Tiger's Process

Maybe I need you  
Thinking about angels  
Thinking about what they do  
Maybe they'll fly  
Bring you right here to me  
Cover them miles  
Heaven knows what I need  
Baby I need you

Maybe I need you  
Here in this town so sweet  
Everything quiet  
Everyone gone to sleep

Maybe I need you  
Here in this world on fire  
Everything moving  
Everyone always tired  
Thinking of futures  
Everything falls away  
Everything changes  
Nothing has changed today

**[Baby I Need You by Kim Taylor]**

* * *

Softening the panting in their breaths was harder than they thought. The room around them was completely dark, still, with no sign of a human being.

Brooke looked at Draco and nodded her head to his unspoken question.

Slowly, Broke turned the knob, stifling any potential squeaks with the flesh of her hand.

The room looked dusty and dim, and much unlike the store she recognized.

"It's clear," she whispered.

They got out of the vanishing cabinet and stepped into the second story of Borgin and Burke's. Brooke never saw the space above the store. The room was hardly decorated, only an empty storage with a couple cabinets and a few tables.

Fortunately, the door was locked from the inside. But Brooke wondered whether it was safer to go down the stairs or sneak through the window.

"He probably sleeps in a room nearby," said Draco.

Seeing how thin the walls looked, Brooke knew if they stayed here until morning, Borgin would wake up to a whisper or creak of the floor. And apparating wouldn't be ideal for an absolutely silent get away.

Brooke walked toward the window, looking out into the dark and abandoned shopping strip that was Diagon Alley. The moon hid behind a never ending mass of flat grey-blue clouds. She could barely make out the roofs of nearby buildings.

"We'll just have to jump if we don't want Borgin to find out where we are."

"And you don't suppose he'll notice his window open in a room he wasn't in?"

Brooke frowned. He was right. If they left any evidence of people being here, Borgin could question and eventually lead to the vanishing cabinet and finding the whole D.A. in hiding.

The fall down couldn't be that far. Although the store was kind of tall, they were still only on the second story.

The nighttime air was crisp and cool.

"Lumos," she whispered, pointing her glowing wand downward.

"Grab the bag," she told Draco and slowly opened the window.

"We're actually going to jump?" he raised his eyebrows.

Brooke smiled and nodded.

"What about the window?"

"We'll climb down the bricks," she explained, ignoring Draco's incredulous stare, "just enough to get out of the window and then we jump."

"Those bricks? You mean the ones plastered smoothly to make a wall?"

"They're not that smoothly plastered. It's an old building. Think of it as rock climbing," she suggested, already propping a foot on the window's ledge.

"What about our ankles? I'd like to keep mine intact," he sneered.

"You won't be landing on them, so don't worry about your precious ankles," she smirked with half of her body outside.

"How else are we going to jump?" he came to the window side.

"Just get out of the window and hold onto my back," Brooke said. Her legs felt a little shaky, standing over a gravel pathway she couldn't see. She tried to gain the best possible grip with her sneakers.

"What?" Draco pulled on the knapsack.

"Come on!" she whispered hastily.

Grumbling about not knowing how this unknown plan was going to work out, Draco finally followed her out the window. His body was right next to her, holding onto the small window ledge as if it was his lifeline.

They clumsily, but silently managed to close the window.

"Now what?"

"Hold on to my back, and make sure you don't let go," she said.

"How is that any more efficient than both of us just jumping down?" he said. Brooke couldn't see his expression, but she was sure it was a glare of some sort.

"Trust me," she sighed.

Hesitantly, but with extreme care, he gripped onto her shoulders.

"No, around my waist," she pushed his arms down, "You'll be able to hold on better."

It was true, but she didn't expect the rush of comfort and safety to run through her as he held on to her from behind. Shaking it away, Brooke took a deep breath and transfigured.

As she guessed, she felt her claws immediately loosing its grip and with a large push off the wall, the two leapt from the wall and headed down.

"Oof," she grunted as Draco's body weight collided into her in a slight second delay. But she made it to the ground, landing on her feet.

The surge of adrenaline hadn't yet left her body and Brooke sped off into Diagon Alley, finding the nearest exit.

"What- are you- doing?" Draco yelled from her back. He held on tighter than he did when they were on the wall and his body collided into her every few strides.

Once her paws felt the difference from loose gravel to the soft earth, everything felt natural. Her eyes saw more clearly as she ran into the darkness and her body moving more fluidly with each muscle working to bring them further from the city.

The dim street lights looked like a cluster of stars below the foggy night sky.

She stopped, panting. Draco immediately slid off and sat in the grass.

"You're mad," he sighed, looking incredibly grateful to be back on the ground.

Brooke transfigured and laughed. She rolled onto her stomach, breathing in deeply. The fresh smell of the uncut grass reminded her elongated stay in the forest.

"Mm," she smiled. "Despite the running and the constant paranoia, I'd do this everyday, jumping from buildings and dashing into who knows where."

Draco didn't say anything. He laid down on his back and put his arms behind his head.

"It'd be so easy," Brooke continued.

"What would?" he asked, still staring at the empty sky.

She shrugged. "To leave, get away from all this. People just make everything so complicated- more than it needs to be."

The soft wind breathed on the grass, creating a quiet rustle.

"That sounds boring," Draco said.

"I would taking boring over this at the moment," she replied.

* * *

This book, she had engraved in her memory. Over and over she read, skimmed and glanced through her golden transfiguration book, trying to sift for any fragment of new information. It was hopeless.

Brooke looked admiringly at the tiny book and wondered if her father had read it too. He probably did, knowing how often she could find him in his library or coming home with yet another book in hand.

She definitely missed him.

Maybe their house would've been another hideout for the Order and she'd be able to find Harry, Ron and Hermione in no time. She'd be able to ask if she was crazy for thinking Draco's patronus had saved her miles from where it was cast. And her father would readily pick the answer from memorized stash of transfiguration facts. He'd smile at her and her undeniable interest in this boy.

Such a romantic her mother married, Brooke thought happily. She missed them so much. And her mother, she'd hopefully be able to see her soon. Her father, well, Brooke was more than proud to know that he died fighting.

"You okay?" asked Draco, catching Brooke quickly wiping off a tear.

"I'm fine," she said, unable to ignore the small twitch of anger in the back of her mind. Brooke always thought she'd be able to forgive Draco, even if she never admitted it to herself. To forgive Draco's father, however, that was different.

"I was just thinking about my dad," Brooke said, half wanting to talk about him and the other half wanting him to feel bad in place of his father.

"Oh," replied Draco, lowering his eyes.

Brooke disliked how she took pleasure out of it.

"I just miss him, I guess."

His gaze was still on the ground, focusing on a blade of grass.

"He knew so much about Transfiguration and I was just in the midst of advanced training," she kept talking, finding herself speaking out of genuine reminiscence rather than vengefulness. "Sometimes I feel plain angry for what happened."

Draco felt a twinge of resentment in his stomach.

"But other times, I'm happy I got to know him for so long."

He reached into the jacket Brooke let him borrow from her house and pulled out a leather bound book.

"Where did you get that?" she looked at her father's journal in Draco's hand.

"I took it from your dad's library; it was on the desk," he confessed. "I wasn't sure if anything else would happen to your house, so I saved it for you just in case."

He scooted to sit right next to her.

Whenever her father took out the journal, Brooke would ask him what he was writing. Every time, he shrugged and said he'd show it to her in a couple years.

When she told Draco this, he smiled and said, "Oh, that was a pretty cool idea he thought of, then."

Anxious, Brooke opened the journal.

_My Little Tiger's Progress_

She laughed at the title. Her father was incredibly dorky.

It amazed her, seeing all these small notes of her Transfiguration. A pair of pointed canine teeth scaring the wits out of her mother one afternoon lunch as a toddler, a small pink nose when she sneezed, hand transfiguration as her very first practice with her father.

These early instances were only notations compared to the pages documenting her progress throughout her Hogwarts education. Every few entries had long explanations of the mechanisms or tips.

In between a recording of how quickly Brooke could transfigure and the notes about how Brooke felt and controlled each separate muscle, there was a page about patronuses.

_Brooke learned patronuses at school the past year and displayed her corporeal patronus for Jane and I. At such a young age, I have to commend her for learning such a feat. It takes the shape of a tiger, of course, to match her Animagus. Most Animagi have similar patronuses due to the strong connection to that particular animal. _

_Patronuses work in the same way, in that the form for each spell caster is determined by a mixture of personality and individually unique spirit. Some authors suggest that the Animagus mirrors the form of a specific living individual of that species and that their instincts become tuned in with the Animagi. In the Animagus form, we feel slightly different, as if those instincts have significant influence on our actions and the physical and mental strength it takes to carry out those actions. A significant influence so subtle we hardly take notice of it happening at all. That can also be said for patronuses where our own instincts and desires lead the patronus to act on its "own" will without a command._

_Next summer, after Brooke has had plenty more experience with patronuses and transfiguration, I will have to ask her about the effects of her Animagi instincts on this "free will" of her patronus._

She put the book down.

Next summer. They never got to work on that. Instead, she went running off with Harry, Ron and Hermione to kill Voldemort and get some kind of revenge for her father's death.

And still, here he was, helping her with this very journal entry.

Brooke looked at Draco, who was carefully watching her the whole time.

"Patronuses can act in place of the caster's instincts and desires," she said.

He raised an eyebrow.

"That's what my father's saying," Brooke said, knowing he probably didn't have a clue what she was talking about. "A patronus is like an extension of the caster themselves. It can act according to the caster's true desires, even without the caster knowing it."

"That's…cool," Draco said, confusedly.

"Did you really miss me over the summer?" she asked bravely. "Because you were truly sorry when you believed you killed me. Because you really did care about me?"

Draco seemed to be staring at her nose instead of at her eyes.

After a small bit of silence, he finally looked at her.

"Of course, I did."

"Is that why you've been trying to help me?" Brooke kept pushing on. "Why you're still here now after how many weeks ago that you could've gone back home?"

His jaw tensed, but still nodded.

Somewhere in her mind, Brooke knew all of this before she asked. Actually getting the right answer, well, it was much different.

"You were practicing patronuses over the summer, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

She wasn't sure how to put all this.

"Erm, well, what memories did you use?"

Brooke watched him for anything, any sign of lying or telling the truth.

"I don't know, I thought of a lot."

"Oh."

He wasn't looking at her now.

"It was hard to think of a good one, though," he finally said, staring at the trees. "I stayed up for full days sometimes because I couldn't be relaxed."

Brooke didn't want to interject, but he wasn't saying anything as quickly as her curiosity wanted.

"Because of everything going on with the war?"

He shook his head.

"Then what?" she asked more hesitant because of her anticipation of the answer.

"Well partially that," he said. "But mostly because I didn't want to face you when I fell asleep."

She wasn't sure what she expected him to say. That he missed her? That he felt incredible guilt? Whatever she expected, what he actually said made her lose what she planned to say back.

Either in her silence or to explain himself, Draco leaned in and spoke more engagingly than he had been.

"I had you in every dream in one way or another, and most of them- hell, I can't think of just one where you didn't die, or leave or get hurt or were just gone." And he said that, Draco did remember one particular dream. "Except once. I was flying."

Brooke's eyebrows furrowed together and she listened more intently.

"Fast through trees, but never getting caught in the branches. Finally, I swooped down on this black shadowed mess only to find you crying your eyes out in the middle of it. It was a happy dream though," he said, recalling more details. "They way you looked, the way your eyes widened in awe when you saw that I made it all go away…"

Draco shook his head, bringing him back to the present time. "I was just dreaming though."

When he looked back at her, she was in complete disbelief.

"I'm not making this up," he defended, feeling heat rise in his face. "But if you don't believe me-"

Brooke shook her head furiously. "No, no! I never told you about the marketplace, so you can't be possibly making it up or it's a rather inconvenient coincidence."

"What on earth are you-"

"Draco, I almost died that night!" she exclaimed.

His face went hard. "I know! How many times do I have to say I'm sorry? I don't expect you to forgive me for that, but do you have to rub it in-"

"Shush!" she smiled, putting a hand over his mouth. "Not _that_ night. When you had that dream- the dementors almost put their kiss of death on me!"

His eyes were more than confused and he pulled her hand off his face.

"You mean to tell me, that I actually did fly through the air to save you from dementors and I only remember it as a dream."

"Not _you_ you_._ Your _patronus_ you_._"

"That's not possible," he said matter of factly.

"It makes absolutely perfect sense," said Brooke, still stunned. "There was no one else within miles of the town except Dean, but his isn't an eagle. Your patronus is an eagle- that exact eagle. I've seen you perform the patronus charm twice up close so far and there's been no doubt in my mind that it's the same one."

She could tell Draco was having difficulty believing her, so she picked up her father's journal.

"'_our own instincts and desires lead the patronus to act on its "own" will without a command'"_ she read aloud while pointing at the line of her father's writing.

Draco took the journal and read the passage over and over again.

She felt strange, trying to convince him. It was like she was telling him he had some sort of deep desire to save her. And now he was either going to tell her she was completely wrong or that she was right. Brooke wasn't too sure which one she was more afraid of hearing.

"It's just a theory, though," Draco said, frowning.

"A hypothesis," she corrected automatically, "but hypotheses can be proven and what other explanation could there be except that somehow you cast an almost freethinking patronus?"

"I didn't," he shook his head, "I couldn't have, not only after practicing for a week."

"Well, not really a freethinking patronus," Brooke continued to think, "it's more of an imprint of the caster's mind and acting upon it."

"Brooke!"

"Hm?" she broke from her thoughts.

"That's impossible," he stated.

"How is it impossible? You didn't know that I was in a deserted marketplace surrounded by death eaters and would it merely be a coincidence that the patronus was an eagle?" Brooke repeated back all the evidence with a slight frustration at his stubbornness.

"Well, if it _is_ true, then why does it matter?"

"Besides the fact that it's a remarkable and accurate idea of my father's, it means-" she paused before letting the words come out. They were such silly words.

"Means what?"

"It means," she decided quickly to say or not, "it means that one of your deepest desires was to protect me."

That look. That one look from him, she knew, could only be saying _I'll always protect you._

"You were protecting me from Snape's spell?" she asked quietly with her eyes still entranced by his.

"Anything to keep you alive."

Even though she's said it a million times to herself and a million more times to Draco, besides Harry, Ron, Hermione and her parents, Brooke knew she could trust him, whether she wanted to or not.

All she could do, however, was give an awkward smile, causing her to busy herself with picking her father's journal, the transfiguration book and Dumbledore's will off the floor. Brooke put the will into the front of the transfiguration book.

Her eyes glazed over a phrase. It was enough to stop her movement and her thought process.

She glared at the words, wondering how in the world Dumbledore would know that she'd think to trust Draco again. Or why in the world he'd want her to.

It was absurd, though, thinking that Dumbledore's advice was referring to Draco. Of all people. No, Brooke waved away the possibility, not everything revolved around him.

She couldn't help herself. Brooke played a little more with the idea. She never expected to trust him, ever. From the start of their first year, that was a difficult concept to grasp. Fourth year to sixth year, well, that was rather complicated. After that, any person would know she wouldn't trust him.

Except Neville, apparently.

Then, she wondered if it were obvious to everyone just like it was to Neville.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were much too worried for Brooke's safety and sanity to be telling her they thought Draco was a perfect match for her.

Who else would Dumbledore be talking about?

It was that same feeling when she finally figured out the answer to a puzzle. It fit so perfectly, she wondered why she never thought of it before.

But the answer was absurd.

Wasn't it?

Draco sat nearby, absorbed in his thoughts. He looked grim, Brooke thought. After all, she was unresponsive when he admitted her life was his first priority. And then the impact of what he said finally hit her. Brooke knew how foolish she'd been. Dumbledore was right.

"I'm looking for the locket. The one you gave me? It's a rather important necklace, for reasons more than the obvious," Brooke said, taking a seat across from Draco.

* * *

**A/N**: I know it's been a while . BUT that section, I knew, was the most gray area and difficult to write. The rest will come easier and faster! Hope you enjoyed reading the chapter and continue to read for more! :D Even though I've been super slow at posting, still review por favor? :) 3

Also, I'm actually starting to feel the series' end. :( author's grief.


	14. Spies on the Hill

_Far far there's this little girl_  
_ She was praying for something big to happen to her_  
_ Every night she ears beautiful strange music_  
_ It's everywhere there's nowhere to hide_  
_ But if it fades she begs _  
_ "Oh lord don't take it from me, don't take it yourselves" _

_How can you stay outside?_  
_ There's a beautiful mess inside_  
_ How can you stay outside?_  
_ There's a beautiful mess inside _

_I guess i'll have to give it birth  
_

_So shake it yourself now deep inside_  
_ Deeper than you ever dared_  
_ Deeper than you ever dared_  
_ There's a beautiful mess inside_  
_ Beautiful mess inside _

**[Far Far by Yael Naim]**

* * *

"I'm looking for the locket. The one you gave me? It's a rather important necklace, for reasons more than the obvious," Brooke said, taking a seat across from Draco.

"Why do you need it?" he asked too quickly.

Luckily, Brooke took it as a natural response to such a random topic brought up.

"I can't-" Brooke began to refuse disclosing any information, but stopped herself. "It's important. For Harry."

She tried to signify the locket's relation to Voldemort's downfall with the look of her eyes, but Draco's thoughts seemed to be focused elsewhere.

"And I would explain to you exactly why, but if there's a chance- and it's a high chance- that people will question you about you disappearing, then I know you'll get hurt because of it."

That part was sincere, not an alternate pathway to stray away from the truth. Brooke knew that torture was a favorable persuasive device. She didn't think Draco would crack, but the thought of him being tortured in her defense was too much.

Draco nodded, understanding.

"Can I know what you'll do with it, once you get it?"

"Mm," Brooke thought for a moment. "Destroy it."

His eyebrows furrowed. "This'll be helping Potter, how?"

"Just trust me," she said, wishing she could say more. It felt good to be able to talk to him. The past week, Brooke had to actively converse about other things than the main ones on her mind, or be speaking in such vague terms about it. Now, it felt natural.

It brought back too happy memories of their closeness and the wonderful rush of relaxation of just being in each other's company. Draco didn't seem to have the same feelings. He looked anxious and unsure.

When she pointed this out, he simply shook his head.

"Is that all though?" he asked. "Just to help Harry?"

Brooke didn't know how to answer the question. "Erm. Yeah. I would never want to destroy it if it wasn't beneficial for the war."

Why did he give it to _him_ if _they_ needed it? Draco pondered the question that had been probing his psyche since the night Dumbledore offered it to him. Nothing Brooke said had made it any clearer.

_"If you could do just one last thing for me, Draco," said Dumbledore, hunched forward and trying to keep his balance with his grip on the railing. He reached out into his pocket._

_Draco flinched to cast a hex on him, but the headmaster looked up with gentle eyes and smiled. "My wand is over there and believe me, there is no useful weapon that could be held in my robes."_

_His feeble fingers pulled out a black pouch._

_"It's a rather lovely necklace," he said, taking out a golden chain and its heavy golden locket. "Something you'd want to keep safe, I'm sure."_

_Dumbledore held it out to Draco._

_"What are you playing at?" said Draco, staring at the dangling locket._

_"I am merely offering you what will no longer be useful in my own hands."_

_The vague answer annoyed him, but nonetheless, Draco reached out his hand and wrapped the chain around his hand._

_The shape, the weight of it in his palm was all too familiar._

_The door quickly opened and Draco stashed it in his pocket before the Death Eaters caught a glimpse of what had happened._

"Why did Dumbledore have it?" Draco asked.

"I gave it to him last year because he was…_curious_ about it," Brooke said, avoiding a long explanation of a Horcrux and how it applies to Harry and how in the world it ended up with Draco and Brooke.

Then she looked back at Draco. "Wait," she eyed him. "How did you know Dumbledore had it?"

Taken off guard, Draco snapped back from his thoughts. "What?"

"I never told you I gave it to Dumbledore," she said, suspicious. "We haven't even talked about the locket since it made me a little a crazy during the Christmas party."

Draco tightened at the memory of Brooke's cold body lying on the dirt. It never bothered her anymore, since a years worth of coping seemed to do the trick. To Draco however, he saw one too many of her near death experiences.

"Draco?" Brooke moved her face into his line of sight. "Draco, are you even listening?"

Of course he was listening, Draco thought. He just needed to think whether or not telling her about his possession of the locket would tempt her to make impulsive plans. Draco wanted to tell her about it sooner, but wanted to figure out why Dumbledore gave it to him in the first place. He hadn't even come close.

"Of course I'm listening," he ended up saying. Looking at her induced a small annoyance in his stomach. The way her eyes said she was judging him and analyzing every motion for a sign of evil.

"Well, why did you come up with the conclusion that Dumbledore had it?" she persisted, equally annoyed.

"He gave it to me," Draco admitted. He was expressionless, hiding his anticipation.

"Why would he give it to you?"

Surprised, yet glad, to see her react so calmly, Draco loosened up.

"I'm not sure. At first I thought he was trying to trade sparing his life for the locket, but-"

"Sparing his life? You mean on the Astronomy Tower?"

"Yeah, he-"

"Dumbledore gave you the locket right before he died?"

Draco nodded.

Brooke narrowed her eyes, in thought more than anger.

"He gave _you_ the locket after you were about to kill him?"

"Yes."

"Strange," is all she said, staring into space.

Brooke couldn't begin to understand why Dumbledore would give a Death Eater a portion of Voldemort's soul instead of giving it to Harry or even just keeping it. Perhaps he didn't trust to leave it up to the chance of whoever searched his body first. But giving it to a Death Eater?

He wasn't any normal Death Eater, she had to admit. Any other would have gladly taken the honor of killing the greatest wizard in history if the honor was bestowed upon them.

But wait, she was forgetting the most important glaring factor in all this.

"You have it, don't you?" she said, not helping to lean closer to Draco's face.

Brooke's eyes were closer to his than usual. Their bright brown encased by white, wide, hopeful and excited.

"Yeah," he said.

She beamed in relief.

"I can't believe it," she laughed giddily. "All this time, looking for it and coming up with a way to find it and _you_ have it!"

"Well, I don't _have_ it have it," he smiled at this sudden change of pace. "It's in my room somewhere."

"Oh," her own smile fell, only for a second before picking back up again, "that's fine, at least we know where it is!"

She sighed, falling on her back to lie down.

"When can we leave?" she asked.

Draco was surprised and wasn't sure why. It didn't strike him earlier that this might mean he'd say goodbye to Brooke once again.

By mid morning the next day, Brooke and Draco stood next to each other and held hands. The forest around them blurred as their bodies were squeezed through an invisible tube. In an instant, they stood on a hill covered in greenery, looking down at Wiltshire, England.

It was a half circle of enormous houses, separated by large mown lawns. On the far end of the town was the biggest, grayest, stone manor. From the hillside, Brooke could still make out the large golden 'M' embellishing the gate around the Malfoys' home.

As they did any kind of traveling at nighttime, they apparated just in time for the sun to set into Wiltshire. Brooke and Draco sat there, invisible between the tall shrubbery for an hour or two. Brooke disapproved heavily when her mind thought they would look like a couple of teenagers fooling around in the bushes. That would fend people off from investigating them further, right?

But her thoughts played more with the idea, leaving Brooke desperately searching for something else to think about.

She examined the town. They watched until each one of the street lamps turned on.

She caught his eye the instant she moved and simultaneously, they knew it was time to start moving.

First, they checked their surroundings for any spying eyes. When they found nothing, they stood up and stretched their limbs.

A shot of light sped in front of her chest and Draco thudded to the floor.

Her first instinct was to turn around to see if he was okay. Instead, Brooke lifted her wand and transfigured her eyes, standing close enough to Draco's body to feel his side at her heels.

A few feet in front of her, Hermione, Ron and Harry burst into view, encasing her in embraces.

Shocked, Brook accepted their tight hugs, wondering if she'd gone completely mad from hunger and lack of sleep.

"You're- You're all alright," she said, wide eyed, arms still around them. They were certainly there, unless even her nerve endings have gone delusional.

"Us? We haven't seen you in weeks!" gasped Hermione, hugging her tightly again. "Everyone was deathly frightened when we apparated into Shell Cottage and you were missing. We thought you had almost the same fate as Dobby."

Brooke was still getting used to the fact that her friends had appeared out of nowhere, so the words didn't ring much importance until something made Harry's disposition change.

"What about Dobby?" she asked, watching Harry.

"He didn't make it," replied Hermione solemnly. "Bellatrix's knife must have caught him before we got out of there."

"We buried him once we got to Bill and Fleur's," said Harry.

She didn't know what to say. All this time, she thought Dobby was alive, but he died the very day she last saw him. For not being there at the burial, Brooke was sure to remember to visit whenever the time was right.

Then something stabbed at her chest when she recalled telling Winky how Dobby was traveling alongside Harry Potter when really, his body had been long resting in the sands.

"And you," she looked at Ron, grabbing him firmly by the shoulders. "I saw a paper with Harry and Hermione on the front and it said you were completely missing. I thought something horrible might have happened."

He smiled shamefully.

"I kind of," Ron said slowly in a mumble, "left for a bit."

Brooke, still happy to see them, furrowed her eyebrows.

"But I came back and just met up with them again a couple days ago," he explained.

Realization dawned on her and she couldn't help but feel disappointed in him. Everything he said back to her in the forest, she thought it was all talk from the initial shock of the journey. Nonetheless, she shook it away.

"Stop," urged Brooke at Harry. He had walked over to Draco with his wand out. Draco lay still on the floor, his expression unchanging, however Brooke could guess he was unpleasantly surprised.

Harry looked up at her.

"He's already stunned," she explained.

"Oh, I was so worried," Hermione piped in, "When we ran into him at the Manor, you looked like you were going to be sick."

Brooke softly laughed in bitter remembrance of how sick she _did_ feel. Seeing his face so close to hers now made her feel sick in a different way, but a couple weeks ago, Brooke thought her eyes were going to burst.

"You kept Malfoy alive this whole time?" Ron laughed, happy to see the change of subject. "I was betting with Harry whether or not we'd see his name in the obituary two days since we left the Manor or three days."

Brooke smiled appreciatively. "No, but perhaps sometime in the near future."

How was she going to even begin to explain the way things turned out completely opposite than they- and herself, had expected.

It seemed like ages ago since she felt rage when his name was mentioned. A couple weeks later and they were almost back to normal, but all this would take them one step back from all that progress.

Then, Brooke suddenly missed the isolation from the world, where it had just been Brooke and Draco. In the past couple weeks, she'd been used to experiencing things with Draco, hearing him talk, having him listen to her, seeing him every minute of the day, feeling his body curled around her when they slept. For body warmth, of course, she thought automatically. And now reality was reminding her of the missing answers to question of why she was ever mad in the first place.

"So, what happened?" asked Harry. "Hermione thought you might've splinched when Malfoy grabbed on to you."

"I'm surprised we didn't," said Brooke. "When I let go of Hermione, I changed the destination at the last second to my house- or where my parents' _used_ to live."

Hermione frowned. "I knew we should've looked there."

"We couldn't look for you right away," said Harry. "Griphook was giving us a hard time with us for the sword."

"Did you get it back?" she asked anxiously.

Harry answered with his expression, which fell into annoyance. "We had to break into Gringotts and Griphook ran off with it."

"What we did get though," said Ron, "was that gigantic beast over there."

Brooke stared at the clearing of trees he pointed at.

"If you step over here," Ron stepped back a couple of feet, around the area where they first appeared. "You'll see him."

She followed him and looked again. There it was, a giant dragon with broken chains around its neck. Her mouth dropped open.

"How in the world did you-"

"We have loads to tell you," said Hermione.

"I have loads to tell you, too," she smiled, eagerly waiting for a good time to mention how close they were to another Horcrux.

Before they pulled her into their circle of protective charms and secrecy spells, Brooke ran back over to Draco.

"Why can't we just leave him there for a while and when he wakes up, he'll think we disappeared," smiled Ron.

She simply laughed and knelt next to Draco with her wand pointed at his chest.

"Ron's right," said Harry. "If you wake him up, he'll ask too many questions and we have a lot to tell you about."

"If we leave him here and he goes back home, he'll leave suspecting someone rescued me and who else could it be but you three?" she challenged him, knowing Draco would probably search for her, not saying a word to anyone about his suspicions. Or at least that's what her hopeful mind thought he'd do.

Harry still didn't look convinced.

"He knows where Slytherin's locket is," Brooke told him.

"What?" exclaimed the three of them.

"Why do you think we came back here anyway?" she said, feeling triumphant.

"You told him about the Horcruxes?" Harry rounded on her.

Her triumphant feeling faded away.

"I didn't even want _Lupin_ or _Mr. Weasley_ to know what we were up to. Why would you even think that I'd be happy that you trusted Malfoy for the fifty millionth time when he's just going to go behind your back again?"

Brooke prepared for a rage at her divulging secrets, but the words stung her more than she expected.

"And maybe its fine for you to go ahead and put yourself up for being fooled again, but now we're _all _in danger if he so much as lets one detail slip to the Death Eaters."

"Enneverate."

Harry's temper seemed to flare at the sound of these words and saw that Draco had been revived, not by Brooke, but by Ron.

* * *

**A/N:** ...hello there again. Aha. . I'm trying to squeeze out these chapters & I know it's been like this for a long while. But I'm working as fast as time allows me. :) So thank you guys for being patient & hope you like this chapter. It's pretty short, but I probably be posting up chapters a bit shorter than usual, however they'll come much more frequently.

Please review & keep reading! Another thanks to you guys you are always reviewing. :D

I'll get back to you guys soon!


	15. Betrayal

_Dear friend, please tell me who I am _  
_And start from the inside _  
_Or wait instead, before it's said _  
_All these monsters I couldn't hide _  
_Beneath the bed or in my head _  
_If I was stronger they would've died _  
_But every once in a while I'm terrified _

_To survive, I criticize other people that I'll never be _  
_The truth is, I bruise too easily _

_Convince me it's alright _  
_That loneliness will subside _  
_My hands tied, surrendered _  
_To all these storms that I've weathered _  
_Are You listening wherever? _  
_Why is this taking forever _  
_Heal it quick, I don't care _

_Hey You, could you analyze my state of mind, my state of mind? _  
_Get rid of this low feeling with soul healing_

**[Analyze by Tim Be Told]**

* * *

Draco unfroze, letting his chest fall in mid breath. He simply stared at Ron, Harry, and Hermione giving an awkward greeting.

"Now that you know we're here, you have to come with us," said Ron, half as an explanation to Harry.

Out of Brooke's utmost surprise, Ron helped Draco up off the ground and patted him on the shoulder. Draco muttered a thanks as Ron and the others started to walk and disappear into the protected clearing. Brooke smiled reassuringly and followed.

Ron continued to play nice with Draco, re-explaining the presence of a giant dragon and why no one could see it outside the chosen perimeter. Once they sat down and a silence began to set in, Brooke took the chance to fill them in on their trip to her house and to Hogwarts.

At first, Draco stayed silent. But, after a while, he chimed in every now and then to help recount everything.

Brooke thought it was a good idea to start first. After hearing their story, maybe Harry would loosen up a bit.

Fortunately, Harry seemed more engaged in what they were saying, rather than who was saying it. By the end of their story, he glared less at Draco whenever he spoke, even asking a question. Brooke began to wonder if Harry would somehow forgive Draco after a couple of weeks of decent conversation to a common goal- or at least kind of a common goal.

"Longbottom said he'd figure it out," Draco answered Harry's question, who then receded back into his thoughts.

"I can't imagine him hiding out would last for so long though," Brooke added. "Anything might just add to Snape or the Carrows' suspicions."

"It might take months for us to get everything we need," said Hermione. They decided, silently, to not mention anything specific about what they were doing. Brooke knew it was holding back a lot of information that needed to be said, but it was the most they could do.

"And that's what worries me," said Brooke, "it's horrible over there and they're fighting to keep as much of the old Hogwarts as they can."

"Well, you said the locket is just in your room, right?" Hermione directed the question to Draco, who nodded.

How Draco came into possession of the locket was the first topic Harry, Ron and Hermione wanted to talk about. Harry was especially disturbed at Dumbledore's choice to give him the locket and pestered Draco for every detail of the occurrence.

Hermione thought a Death Eater might have been the last person Voldemort or Snape would think of having Dumbledore's trust for something like that necklace. She figured Dumbledore knew Draco wouldn't show it to anyone since the locket meant something to him. Since it used to be Draco's, the locket was of no importance to anyone else.

They all accepted her guess, but Draco seemed to find it a bit anticlimactic to this long questioned mystery.

"How are we going to get you back into the house and out of it?" asked Hermione.

"I'm guessing apparation is out of the question?" asked Ron.

"Too loud of a noise," said Hermione, biting her lip as she brainstormed.

Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were in their king sized bed, lavishly over decorated with embroidered, satin lined comforters and silk down feathered pillows. On opposite sides of their bed, they slept lightly. Their breathing was uneven, able to wake up at any slight disturbance.

In these isolated nights, when they were tending to no visitors, the Malfoys were relieved to get away from Bellatrix's fury. She constantly criticized Potter and his friends, even the Snatchers and Lucius and Narcissa for not being able to stop them. In the Dark Lord's presence, however, she was filled with shame in herself.

They had tried desperately to find ways to find their son, but not daring to ask much of the Dark Lord except informing him of the kidnapping. Nothing mattered much to the Dark Lord if it did not apply to him. He was far more concerned about the passed chance of having Potter captured right when the prey was in his own headquarters.

Lucius kept thinking about how Draco was still of some value to the Dark Lord, used in interrogation processes and menial, but necessary tasks. The fear of what the Dark Lord might do if Lucius brought it up yet again was far too great. They were already looking quite useless.

With this bout of uncertainty, sleeping was no oasis.

In the middle of the night, it was with no difficulty for the rapt on the door to bring Lucius to the front door.

At the sight of his son, wrists bound by invisible ropes and his shirt tattered, Lucius immediately brought him into the Manor. After calling his wife, he drew his wand and rushed outside. His eyes were alert to any sign of movement, his hopes set on seeing Potter, the mudblood girl or the Weasley.

To his disappointment, however, there was no one except the albino peacocks stirring awake.

Inside the manor, Narcissa was holding onto Draco as tightly as a mother could. She let out a sigh of relief.

Lucius was anxious now and began to bombard Draco with questions.

"You have to tell us everything, Draco," he said, hand on his shoulder. "Where did they go? What did you hear?"

Draco looked at his father and frowned. "I-I can't remember."

His mother looked concerned.

But Lucius narrowed his eyes. "Clever," he said quietly. "There are ways to break a memory curse."

Just before Draco could argue, his mother clasped him tight to her chest. "He needs rest, Lucius! He's been brought home only a few seconds ago!"

"We need answers now before his memory fades," retorted Lucius. "The more information we get to the Dark Lord, the better."

"It won't be any good if he's exhausted and starving," Narcissa argued, her eyes burning.

Lucius' mouth twitched, but he knew when his wife wouldn't give in.

After her multiple attempts to get him to eat, Draco was accompanied to his room and his mother left only when she thought he was fast asleep.

As soon as he heard their door close, Draco sat up and threw the heavy sheets off of himself. The second he was in his room, he hadn't seen the locket sitting next to his bed where he thought he had left it.

Brooke pulled the invisibility cloak off for her wandering eyes to get a better look at Draco's room.

"A little messy, don't you think?" she whispered, standing next to a pile of jeans.

Draco only smiled a little. He nearly had a heart attack the whole way from the gate to his room, hoping Brooke didn't get caught in the doorway or that his parents didn't accidentally brush against her. Pawing through his room for a couple minutes, he dug through the clothes next to Brooke to pull out the golden chain from a back pocket.

He held the locket, staring at it with such attachment. It was a strange feeling, knowing it was going to be destroyed and he was helping.

Nevertheless, Draco stuffed it into Brooke's hand.

In return, she gave him the fake locket.

It's metal body noticeably lighter and its back smooth without the messy engravings.

He didn't want her to leave so soon. Instead, his mind lingered for a moment on the two of them, curled up on his bed. But Draco acted in haste, terrified of the thought of her getting caught and what act of information gathering or hostage taking his parents would do.

Brooke must have felt his rushing, for she took the necklace and draped Potter's invisibility cloak back over her head.

Once Draco saw the knob turn, he took a step forward.

"Wait."

The knob stopped in mid turn and he knew she was looking at him.

"Let me come with you."

Brooke's head popped out of nowhere. Her eyes were wide with confusion.

"What?"

"Let me come with you," he repeated. Draco knew it was a crazy request, but his only surprise is that he actually said it out loud.

Letting go of the door knob, Brooke allowed the cloak to slide off her body and rest in her hands.

"Draco," she said in a tone which Draco automatically expected her rejection. "You just got here. I mean, your parents…"

"They don't need me here," he shook his head. "The Dark Lord can easily find someone else to do the menial tasks I was assigned before, he's gotten along fine during my disappearance. He probably didn't even notice."

"But you saw your mother. She looked like she'd been a nervous wreck when you went missing," said Brooke. She didn't know how to deal with this. Her initial reaction was almost relief of not having to say goodbye until who knows when. But what Draco's coming along actually meant, was a bunch of certain complications.

"She'll be fine," argued Draco. "But I can't stand it here."

"You _belong_ here, Draco," she said dejectedly.

His hand mechanically reached up to his left wrist, gripping the tattoo. He could feel it. It felt different from every natural part of his body, as if it was a separate attachment. Sometimes it felt alive.

"I really don't," he stated. "How can you belong in crowd of sick sadists? And still sense every hidden ounce of resentment in every body the Dark Lord controls? And only exceptions to that are my parents and frankly, I can't tell if their terrified compliance and lame attempts at gaining the Dark Lord's attention is any better. The longer you stay around any of them, the more sensible they sound, the more dead bodies your desensitized to, so the only way to keep your sanity is isolation and in my case, guilt."

Draco didn't mean to say all of it.

His cheeks grew a bit hot, but at the same time, it felt good to finally say something.

Brooke inwardly sighed.

"People aren't going to trust you," she said. "Harry- he's definitely going to blow a fuse and we can't have him distracted like that, not now. I mean, do you realize what you'd be doing if you came along with us? It's not a game."

"I can help though," he said. "You guys are looking for something, I can help."

"You'll also make it easier to all of us to be found." "Why, because of the mark on my arm?" he said in annoyance.

"I was thinking more along the lines of the more people, the easier it is to be tracked, but that too, I suppose."

"It's not a tracker."

"How do you know? Did You-Know-Who give you the side effects when he tattooed it across your wrist?"

"They'll interrogate me, you know it," Draco said, suddenly using the strongest argument he had. "You heard my father, he'll do anything to make me talk. And you told me a lot more than you should have."

"Or I told you the bare minimum."

"I heard Potter after I got stunned. He's pissed at you for telling me things."

Brooke pursed her lips and pushed the words out of her mouth. "Fine."

Draco only noticed how tense his body was until they relaxed as Brooke agreed.

"But you'll have to dress more darkly," she continued. "You can't fit entirely underneath the invisibility cloak by yourself, much less if we were both under it."

Harry, Ron and Hermione might be worried by now, Brooke thought. She and Draco rushed out of the manor, carrying their shoes in their hands to make the least amount of noise.

Ron and Hermione were set on the dragon, ready to go, while Harry kept watch of the back exit of the Malfoy Manor. Letting Brooke go along into the Manor was a bad idea, thought Harry. He wasn't sure why he felt that way, since everyone else thought otherwise.

Their reasons made sense. Harry was too much of a "risk" if they were found. Ron's ankles showed even when he was crouching in the invisibility cloak and outright said no to the suggestion of Hermione going back into the Manor, to which everyone agreed.

So Harry kept watch, staring at the Malfoy Manor. He could understand why Voldemort used this place as his headquarters. It was no Hogwarts, but it had sturdy stone wall, an iron fence, and at least five stories high- the capacity to hold a large number of his followers. Its isolation from the town made it easier to travel to and from without attracting a huge amount of attention.

Only one less to go, he thought half in pessimism. Harry thought if he'd be able to show any sign of gratitude to Malfoy once the locket was destroyed.

The thought diminished as one of the back doors opened. A black cloaked figure crept out after a quick second and carefully closed.

Harry whipped his wand out, only glancing back at Hermione and Ron to signal them that it wasn't Brooke. Hermione told him specifically not to take down anyone else that showed up around the Manor unless Brooke was in danger. If the figure hadn't been running straight towards their part of the forest, he would have obeyed.

"Harry, no!" Hermione whispered fiercely from the dragon's back.

But he kept watching the figure come closer. Any moment and it'd be close enough to break into their minimal barrier of protective charms.

Then he suddenly recognized his face.

"Locomotor mortis!" he said, making Draco trip in place, a few feet away from the barrier.

"Where's Brooke?" Harry asked him, having to step closer in order for Draco to hear him.

"Harry!" someone yelped. "Does this always have to happen when you're surprised to see him?"

Brooke pulled the invisibility cloak up to hang above the back of her head.

"This wasn't part of the plan," said Harry, defensively.

"Just a modification, but can we please discuss this elsewhere?" she asked.

Before Harry could argue, the door flew open again with Lucius Malfoy sending a spell as quickly as he could. Narcissa Malfoy followed behind him.

Without thinking, Brooke threw the cloak onto Harry.

Two jets of light aimed at Lucius and telling by the angle, Ron and Hermione were well aware of what was going on below them.

"Stupefy!" she yelled, hitting Narcissa, who was mostly trying to get to Draco than hitting them with spells like her husband.

Seeing his wife stunned, Lucius looked at Brooke and stared at the golden locket in her hand. She was certain he made the connection that this necklace was of some sort of importance to their visit. If he thought and questioned it long enough, Lucius Malfoy would know exactly what they were doing, and so would Voldemort.

In that instant of recognizing Lucius Malfoy's gaze upon the locket, Brooke was an easy target. Lucius lunged first, knocking Brooke off her feet. His arms were struggling against hers. He tried to pin her down, but Brooke used all her strength to thrash her body and her legs. It was a blur and she hardly cared that her hair flew wildly in front of her face. As long as her hand kept a tight grip on the locket, she was fine.

Lucius spun off her in a split second, landing against the trunk of nearby tree. Brooke turned in the direction of the spell and found Draco, still locked on the floor, with his arm outstretched and functional.

"Go!" he yelled.

Automatically taking that as a cue to help Draco and get back on the dragon, Brooke darted towards him.

"Brooke!" Draco shouted, looking behind her. He shot a spell she didn't recognize and missed Lucius by a few inches.

From both sides of the Manor, three more Death Eaters came sprinting. With the noise they were making, she wasn't surprised. The closest Death Eater was knocked out easily from Harry, Ron or Hermione's spell. She hurriedly revived Draco and cast a spell at the tall Death Eater. His face was hidden under his hood and the shadows of the night.

Ron had stepped down from the dragon and was running at the second Death Eater. Blocking his curse, the hood fell from her head and the distinct paleness in her skin and sharp cackle came from Bellatrix. She was livid, but Ron and Harry seemed to have a good hold on her.

"The necklace, Bella! Get the necklace!" Lucius yelled.

Brooke exchanged a glance with Draco. She gave him the locket and ran towards Lucius on four paws. He raised his wand, but before he could say a word, Draco sent his wand flying from his palm. The next second, Lucius was stuck to the ground with the weight of a tiger upon him.

Draco rushed by her side and drew his wand.

Lucius glowed with a red light and froze in place.

Hurriedly, Brooke wrapped the necklace back onto her wrist. The two ducked out of the way and found Bellatrix ignoring Ron's spells. Instead, she headed straight towards them.

"Is this what you were up to, Draco?" Bellatrix smiled cruelly, firing spell after spell at both of them. "Off saving the world with itty baby Potter _for love?_"

Bellatrix stressed the last two words, giving Brooke a fiery glare.

"And against your own father?" she screeched in sarcastic delight.

Brooke didn't find it necessary to stun Bellatrix, only to head straight to the Dragon. And that's exactly what Hermione shouted to them.

Ron listened, weaving his way back and was already on top of the dragon when Brooke and Draco reached its feet.

"Harry!" Hermione was calling.

He was far from the dragon, still fighting Bellatrix. It was a strange sight with the invisibility cloak dragging around and making bits and pieces disappear and reappear.

Brooke and Draco ran back after him, only managing to fire poorly aimed shots at Bellatrix to avoid hitting Harry.

With a deep sounding flutter and gust of wind, the dragon gained flight. It stayed close to the ground however, circling back around.

"Harry, let's go!" she bellowed, trying to eye the timing and place of where Ron and Hermione were steering.

Draco moved in closer and began shooting curses at Bellatrix. He and Harry consistently positioned themselves on opposite sides of her.

It threw her off guard for a bit, but she had no trouble sending killing curses at her nephew. Draco and Harry converged to the same side and in his pants pocket, Draco pulled out a golden locket.

Bellatrix stopped for a second, watching Draco set fire to the locket on the ground.

"What are you doing?" she shrieked.

Harry already took the pause to run towards Brooke and the dragon. Draco followed immediately. The three of them made it to the foot of the dragon, floating within a jump's distance off the ground.

Harry made it on top of the foot first, helping Brooke up. Draco jumped and caught a grip on the scales.

Ron and Hermione took no time to start heading back upwards and straight into the forest.

Suddenly, a jet of light aimed straight at them. Draco pulled his hand away from where the spell disintegrated onto the dragon's tough skin. He lost his hold and slipped off.

"Draco!" Brooke screamed, scrambling for his hand.

Harry pulled her back against the dragon's ankle.

She struggled against him, trying to fling herself off. With a forceful tug, Brooke pulled free and jumped off of the scaly foot. Her hands caught her fall, but her wrists ached from the sudden collision.

Ignoring the pain and the thud that sounded not too far away, Brooke ran through the forest. She didn't have a plan, only to get back to where Draco fell.

Finding her way back wasn't a problem. The dragon hadn't flew too far away, and the agonizing screams of the Cruciatus curse burned through her muscles, telling her where to go.

She stopped behind a cluster of trees and bushes, watching Draco's writhing body before Bellatrix's wand.

A hand clasped over her panting breath. As a reflex, her elbow dug into her captor's gut. However, it was Harry bent over with his hand still keeping Brooke from making a sound.

She held him up and turned her attention back onto Bellatrix and Draco.

"Tsk, tsk, Draco," said Bellatrix, circling around him. "The Dark Lord has no tolerance for traitors."

Draco panted on the floor.

She wanted to yell to him, to tell him she's right there and that they didn't leave him behind. Harry wasn't going to let her do anything, though. Upon his hand fell her tears, cooled from the brisk wind.

"Bella, stop!" screamed a tear stricken Narcissa. Her pin straight blonde hair hung messily about her head as she tried to help her husband stand up.

Bellatrix looked at her nonchalantly with her small smile fading away. "Now, Cissy, you know we can't have this. Lucius and yourself can't risk _any_ kind of disturbance of the Dark Lord's plans, let alone a _betrayal._"

Suddenly, a jet of light shot towards Bellatrix, who quickly ducked out of the way. The spell singed the top of her frizzy hair.

Without a word, she retaliated against Narcissa's curse, but missed.

The moment her wand raised once more, Narcissa lunged to wrench it out of her sister's hands. For a few seconds, they wrestled with each other until Bellatrix pushed Narcissa to the ground and held her wand firmly.

"Mutiny! All of you!" she screamed, eyes wide and round with accusation. "The Dark Lord will not be happy."

Before anyone could say a word, she pressed a finger to her Dark Mark and Harry doubled over.

A dark fog slid down to the grass in front of Bellatrix, descending upon the outline of Voldemort.

"And what occasion did you find it necessary to call me?" he hissed.

Bellatrix flinched at his the anger in his words.

"I- master," she began, "the Malfoys. They let Potter escape!"

"It's not true, my lord!" Lucius burst at once.

Voldemort's hand shot out sharply and received instant silence. He turned to face Bellatrix.

"Potter?" his eyes flared. "Potter was here, _again?_"

She gave a little cough and nodded her head.

"Is this correct?" Voldemort asked the Malfoys, who nodded. "And what was his purpose?"

"I'm not sure, my lord," Bellatrix spoke up. "They seemed to take an interest in bringing the Malfoy boy, who put a significant amount of effort into escaping with them."

"Oh, but I'm sure that is not right," he said in a gently surprised voice, "Draco? My faithful servant who has been helping me set disciplinary actions? Surely not."

Draco sat upon the floor with shallow breathing, watching his master look upon him with such pity.

"I'm sure Draco meant no harm. He was merely," Voldemort paused to think, "executing his own way of capturing Potter, yes?"

Although Draco knew it was his cue to nod his head, he stared. He was praying that Voldemort would let him go.

"And what was your plan, Draco?" Voldemort asked. "To befriend Potter and be a spy? Or was it that you were going to foil their plans all by yourself?"

His light black robes swirled softly around him as he paced around Draco.

"No," he smiled cruelly, "I know. You've had a change of heart. Not solely to be on Potter's side, but Potter wasn't alone tonight, was he?"

Draco felt his stomach start sinking to his knees.

"Don't think I'm oblivious to the lives of those close to me, Draco. Or in your case, your _love_ life."

Voldemort smirked and spat on the floor.

"So tell me, Draco. What has she told you?"

"I- I don't know what you're talking about," Draco murmured.

"What were they here for?" he demanded loudly.

"A locket, my lord!" Lucius said. "The Miller girl, she was protecting a locket."

Voldemort's right hand gripped his wand more firmly and his eyes were thin slits. "A locket?"

"Yes, my lord," confirmed Lucius, "with a long golden chain."

"Where is it?"

"Destroyed," he said with hesitation.

Within a fraction of a second, Voldemort grew livid. "Where is it?" he shouted.

Startled, Bellatrix ran to the melted remains of the locket.

"How did they come across this locket? How did they get it?" Voldemort yelled in Draco's face, throwing the disfigured necklace onto the floor.

Then he slowly smiled at the corner of his mouth.

"It was completely destroyed?"

"Yes, my lord," said Bellatrix. "I see," he said. "The Miller girl was holding onto it the whole time?"

"Draco destroyed it," Bellatrix answered, pointing her finger with an accusing glare.

"Why, Draco?" he asked nicely, with a smirk on his face. But Draco showed no response.

"Come now, boy! Why did you decide to destroy it?"

"It was a quick decision," Draco said.

"A quick decision is to leave it or take it, but why would you take the time to destroy it in sight of the people after it?"

"A diversion."

"To let them get away?" Voldemort smiled.

Draco said no more, knowing he said exactly what Voldemort wanted.

"I don't have time to worry about a naïve boy's romantic antics interfering with my plans."

Voldemort held his wand out in front of Draco's face and Narcissa gasped loudly.

He held it for a few seconds before leaning close to Draco. Softly he spoke, "However, you've been loyal up to this point, Draco. There are few I can trust these days. You can live, Draco. All you have to do is _kill her_."

Draco's expression spiraled away and Brooke found herself on top of a hill overlooking the eastern part of London.

Harry was beside her, one hand clutching his forehead and the other clasped around her hand.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay. I know. I suck because I haven't posted anything all summer . (job & etc kept me busy :( ) but that's no excuse. It took me ages to figure out how the story should go after the previous chapter and I've finally got it done. Now that school's starting up again, I'll have more time to write and think, so expect more updates soon hopefully. I say that all the time, I know :( But you guys are my motivation right now. So please keep reading and reviewing! 3


	16. The Refuge

Brooke's palm stung from the chain digging into her flesh. Goosebumps raised across her arm in the crisp, tender wind. She was afraid.

"We have to meet up with Ron and Hermione," said Harry, raising their entwined fingers. She nodded.

They apparated again, this time into a dark, foggy road. Stores lined up the sides, looking in much better shape than those in Diagon Alley. Something in the air, however, hung tense and unwelcoming. A few of hooded wizards were already in the streets of Hogsmeade and all of them turned to face them. Or at least, they were looking in the direction of the noise they made when their feet fell upon the stones.

Harry had draped the cloak over as much of them as possible before they apparated. All they would be able to see would be the bottom of their shoes.

Not waiting a second, Harry and Brooke ran. Once they turned a corner, a numbing chill set upon them and they found themselves directly in front of a dementor. Above them floated another dozen.

"Expecto Patronum!" yelled Harry.

Light burst from his wand, charging at the dementors. The stag dashed through the black mass, letting Brooke and Harry escape. They ran, weaving into an unfamiliar pathway.

Shouts erupted in the main street of Hogsmeade. More people were coming out of their stores and sleeping quarters.

"There! Someone cast a patronus!" someone pointed.

"It's…it's a stag!" another exclaimed.

"Potter's here! Find him!" a gruff voice ordered.

They cautiously stepped around, hunched to let the cloak cover them completely. As their pace slowed down, Brooke stepped on someone's foot.

Someone gasped and stumbled backwards. On instinct, Brooke drew her wand and ended up smacking Ron in the cheek.

"Ow!" he said.

Hermione hurriedly covered his mouth. "Shh!"

Harry threw the cloak over the two of them. It barely covered the top of their knees. Quickly, they dashed into an empty bar.

"Who's-" the barman held his wand out from behind the counter. His long hair was a shiny gray and his blue eyes looked brighter in comparison to the bleak walls. He stared at their lone four pairs of feet.

"Potter," he murmured.

The sound of rushed footsteps reached the bar doors.

"Behind the counter!" he urged in a whisper.

They obeyed, crouched together to let the cloak cover as much as possible.

With a loud bang, the wooden doors burst open.

"What is the meaning of this?" shouted the barman. "You can't just barge into my store in the middle of the night!"

Whoever came into the Hog's Head made no reply and there must have been at least six or seven of them.

"We saw a patronus," someone said.

"Of course!" the barman exclaimed. "With these wretched dementors, you don't expect me to let them glide around my store."

"You're saying it was your patronus?"

"Obviously it was my patronus."

"It looked like a stag. The curfew alarms have rung off. We thought Potter might have come into Hogsmeade."

"It's a goat, you idiots! Expecto Patronum!" he said, releasing a four legged patronus.

The goat pranced around for a few seconds before disappearing. The Death Eaters looked at each other and then narrowly at the barman.

"Break curfew again and we won't be so lenient," said one of them. The footsteps neared the door and faded out onto the gravel. Brooke breathed out in relief.

"Risky move there, Potter," said the barman from above the counter, "apparating into Hogsmeade."

"How'd you know it was us?" asked Harry, standing up.

"That's a rare cloak of yours," he said.

Brooke took a good look at the barman. Staring at his eyes with the glasses perched on his nose, he gave her an odd nostalgic feeling.

"It's been your eye in the mirror," said Harry.

The barman's eyes stared, showing off their clear, vivid blue color.

"How did you get Sirius's mirror?" asked Harry.

"Bought it from Dung 'bout a year ago," said Aberforth. "Albus told me what it was. Been trying to keep an eye out for you." He sloped out of the room, reappearing moments later with a large loaf of bread, some cheese, and a pewter jug of mead, which he set upon a small table in front of the fire.

Feeling the emptiness in their stomachs more vividly in sight of the food, they dug in, silent for a long while.

"We need to get into Hogwarts," said Harry after they finished.

"Are you mad, boy?" said Aberforth. "He wants you too much. You need to go into hiding. Get yourself out of the country and might as well bring these three along with you now that they've figured out they're working for you."

"I can't," Harry refused, "Dumbledore needed us to-"

"Needed you to what? Risk your lives to fight a well experienced wizard that even my brother couldn't defeat in his lifetime?"

"He knew how to defeat him, but I'm the one that has to do it," retorted Harry.

"Why?" said Aberforth. "Why does it _have_ to be you?"

"Dumbledore explained it all-"

"And how do you know he told you everything, hm? My brother was very good at keeping secrets; a real nice talent since he was little."

Harry looked uneasy.

"It's over," said Aberforth. "The Order of the Phoenix is finished. You-Know-Who's won, and anyone pretending different's kidding themselves."

For a few seconds, they stayed quiet.

"I'm going to keep going until I succeed- or I die. Don't think I don't know how this might end. I've known it for years," spoke up Harry softly, but determined. "We need to get into Hogwarts, whether you decide to help us or not."

Aberforth sighed, stood up in front of the portrait of Ariana.

"You know what to do."

The girl smiled and walked away further into the portrait.

She soon came back with a tall man following close behind her. As they came closer, they grew larger, as if Brooke could actually touch them.

The man's face was young with dark, tousled hair. Although disfigured by multiple bruises and swelling, he wore a goofy smile.

The picture frame swung open and he stepped out.

"Neville!" she exclaimed.

"What the-"

"How-"

Hermione gasped after hugging him tightly. "What happened to you?"

"Hm? Oh, the Carrows," he shrugged. "You should see Seamus."

"You're still alive!" Brooke beamed, throwing her arms around him. "What happened when we left? They didn't find you?"

"They tried to," Neville said. "Snape figured you escaped through the Room of Requirement, but it wouldn't let anyone in. Some of the D.A. told me he might send people through the Vanishing Cabinet in Borgin and Burkes, so I had to destroy the one you guys left through.

After that, there was no way anyone could get into the Room of Requirement, which also meant, I couldn't leave either. And that's where Aberforth came in."

All of them looked at him.

"I'd eaten all the food you and Draco got for me and I got pretty hungry. The next day I found passageway. The room must've opened one up for me. At first, I thought I was done for, but the person who came out was a little girl, Dumbledore's little sister. He's been supplying the entire D.A. with food for a while now. He's been a real life saver."

"The entire D.A.?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, everyone's living in the Room of Requirement now," explained Neville. "The room's made more beds and space, so it's kind of like our refuge."

"Did anyone get caught the night we left?" asked Brooke.

Thankfully Neville shook his head. "Still, Snape suspected the lot of us and by that time, practically everyone decided to hide out in the Room of Requirement anyway. It's a gamble, but it's a lot better than being in Hogwarts."

Soon, they thanked Aberforth and followed Neville into the picture frame.

The passageway was just large enough to stand up in, and wide enough to extend their arms.

"I can't wait until everyone sees you guys," said Neville. "It'll really give them a morale boost. When I first told everyone about you and Draco coming, it was kind of a mixed response. I mean, it was nice to know you were alive, Brooke, but everyone was worried why you were with a Death Eater instead of Harry."

Brooke gave a general acknowledgement and kept walking.

"Not that the D.A. thought you betrayed Harry or anything," Neville said quickly. "I told them what you told me, but I guess it was just still hard to swallow for everyone. Where is he anyway?"

"Couldn't keep up with us," she said simply, feeling Harry, Ron and Hermione's eyes on her.

"Shame," he said. "I was beginning to like that bloke."

"You're telling me," Brooke muttered under her breath.

They reached the end of the tunnel and Neville opened the door. She could see a group of people in the room, with plenty of recognizable faces.

"I brought a surprise for you guys," Neville announced and stepped aside.

Everyone gasped and ran forward. Seamus, Lavender, Parvati, Padma along with Ernie Macmillan, Michael Corner and Anthony gathered around them to pat them on the back, hug them, and yell delighted welcome backs.

After a blur of people and a cacophonous chorus of hopeful voices, Brooke found herself in Anthony's familiar embrace. She felt him squeeze her tighter and sigh.

"I can't believe you're okay," he laughed. "None of us knew if you'd gotten caught after escaping through the Vanishing Cabinet."

"So you knew I was here?" she asked.

"Of course," said Anthony. "When Neville contacted everyone in the D.A. that night, he told us to make a bunch of chaos in the castle for you and Draco to get away."

Hearing him say his name brought her back the guilt.

"Anthony, I…erm, never got to say," Brooke began to fumble through an apology.

"Don't worry," he smiled, "It's really good to see you again."

Brooke nodded, still not very reassured.

"Really," he held her shoulders so she'd have to look right into his eyes. "I'm just happy to see you safe. And if Malfoy's kept you alive this whole time, who am I to argue?"

Brooke felt like she was going to throw up.

"Speaking of the guy, I don't see him," said Anthony, looking around. "I think I might give getting to know him a try."

Just at that moment, the portrait door opened.

It was Luna and Dean. Bill and Fleur had taken great care of them. Seamus gave a great roar of delight and ran to hug his best friend.

"Hi, everyone!" said Luna happily. "Oh, it's great to be back!"

"Luna," said Harry distractedly, "what are you doing here? How did you-?"

"I sent for her," said Neville, holding up the fake Galleon. "I promised her and Ginny that if you turned up I'd let them know. We all thought that if you came back, it would mean revolution. That we were going to overthrow Snape and the Carrows."

"Listen," said Harry, "I'm sorry, but that's not what we came back for. There's something we've got to do, then-"

"So you're not going to let us help?" said Neville.

The door swung open again and out came Ginny, Fred, George, Lee Jordan and Cho Chang.

Harry's mouth opened to the friends he hadn't seen in nearly a year. They stood around him, smiling with a determination and enthusiasm he hadn't yet figured out how to respond to.

"So, what's the plan then, Harry?" asked Seamus.

"Plan?" he said.

"We're fighting, aren't we?" said Dean, taking out his fake Galleon. "The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight!"

"No, we were-"

"Why can't they help?" asked Ron.

"What?"

"They can help." His voice lowered so that only he, Harry, Hermione and Brooke could hear. "We don't know where it is. We've got to find it fast. We don't have to tell them it's a Horcrux."

It seemed like a good idea to Brooke, however, Harry still looked unsure.

"I think Ron's right," murmured Hermione. "We don't even know what we're looking for, we need them."

"Alright," he said, then turned to Brooke. "But you have to stay here."

"What?" Brooke exclaimed. "Why?"

"It's too dangerous," said Harry. "They'll be looking for you and there's hardly any problem for them to enter the castle now."

"What are you talking about?" asked Hermione.

"I'm not staying here!" whispered Brooke, flared up at the thought of being stuck in the Room of Requirement.

"You-Know-Who gave Malfoy the order to kill Brooke," Harry answered Hermione, "to gain back his trust."

"It wasn't even a real order," retorted Brooke, "You know he wouldn't give such a useless task unless it was to distract the Malfoys from getting in the way of the real plans."

"It doesn't matter if what it means to Voldemort," said Harry. "The Malfoys want their place back in Voldemort's mind and they'll take any chance to get it."

"We all have a price over our heads already, Harry. This won't make any difference."

"Then, I've put you all in enough danger," Harry snapped and then lowered his eyes.

"You still have to understand that we've decided to help you no matter what," said Hermione patiently. "But I agree, we'll just have to keep a look out for the Malfoys. You don't have to do everything alone, Harry."

Finally convinced, Harry faced everyone. "Okay," he said and everyone hushed.

"There's something we need to find," Harry said. "Something- something that'll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It's here at Hogwarts, but we don't' know where. It have belonged to Ravenclaw. Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone ever come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?"

"Well, there's her lost diadem," said Luna, sitting up on the arm of Ginny's chair.

Harry looked at her.

"It's _lost_, Luna," said Ernie Macmillan. Harry, however, found it the most promising they had so far and asked her to explain.

"It belonged to her mother, a certain kind of crown," explained Luna. "It's said to have magical properties that enhance wisdom. There's a statue of Ravenclaw wearing it, if you want to see it, Harry."

"Yes, but it's been lost for centuries," said Cho.

Harry's face fell, but nonetheless, asked Luna to take him. He turned to her, Ron and Hermione and told them to wait until he comes back. "And make sure you keep the _other one_ safe."

Brooke nodded and her hand automatically reached to her chest.

Without another word, he left the Room of Requirement with Luna.

* * *

**A/N:** Hey guys! So, I haven't been posting for the last however long it was. But I'm back. I've finished this book, so now the chapters will come very regularly. :)

And I wish you all a very happy new years in 2012 :D


	17. To Die For

You might lose your faith in science  
You might lose your faith in wealth  
You might lose your faith in Jesus, oh

Or lose faith in yourself

Or lose your faith in friends

You could lose your faith in freedom  
Feel trapped in your own skin

But when I let you down  
Look past your doubt  
Just please (please)  
Don't lose your faith in me

**Faith (When I Let You Down) by Taking back Sunday**

* * *

Itwas no surprise that people began asking questions about their whereabouts. No one was hostile or accusing when they declined to specify. Instead, Ron, Hermione and Brooke heard about the first day of classes when Snape gave the headmaster's welcome, Seamus's reacted to Dean missing, how Neville got the biggest gash across his face when Luna was taken away.

This made Brooke smile and she glanced to Neville who was sitting peacefully by himself.

She remembered what he said a couple weeks ago. Brooke and Draco were hiding out at Hogwarts together. They had been fighting, but surprisingly no one uttered a killing curse.

A couple to admire, that's for sure.

But Brooke didn't know anymore. Her head was so jumbled she could never tell the difference between anger and guilt, whether she'd kiss him or knee him in the groin if he showed up.

She wanted to go and talk to Neville, but as she made her way over, Michael, Ernie, Seamus and Dean popped by her side.

"So Brooke," Seamus began, looking much more chipper with Dean back. "We had this running bet after you and Malfoy escaped that one night."

"Pretty much whether you had joined the Death Eaters or if you threatened the Dark Mark off him," finished Michael.

Brooke knew they were joking around, but something twisted in her stomach and her emotions became jumbled again. She wasn't sure if she was annoyed at the boys or ashamed of herself.

"And what were your conclusions?" she asked playing along.  
"Seeing as you came back with Harry, Hermione and Ron, we're leaning towards the latter," said Seamus. "But we need confirmation."

"Then you're correct," she smiled.

They started laughing.

"Besides Voldemort, you're probably the second on the list of things he's afraid of," Seamus patted her on the back.

"Shut up, Seamus," Parvati and Lavender appeared. "We think it's sweet that Malfoy was helping her out even though he's a Death Eater."

"'Sweet' and 'Malfoy' in the same sentence?" George turned around, who was just close enough to overhear the conversation. "Either my one ear disrupted my understanding or Brooke is here- ah! There she is!"

Brooke gave an appreciative smile at his joke, but it was more of an attempt to hide her uneasiness. The one other person that wasn't laughing as much was Dean. She suspected only he noticed something lacking in her smile because he was there at the Malfoy Manor, listening to the two scream at each other.

"So Brooke, is he going to fight with us when the time comes?" asked Parvati. "Is coming over right now?"

"That'd be a right shock for the Death Eaters to see," commented Ernie.

"I'm sure it'll give his parents a heart attack," laughed Seamus.

Lavender sighed and wore the same admiration as Neville did. "You're so lucky."

And that's when Brooke found herself walking alone in the corridors. She managed to excuse herself and sneak out the Room of Requirement.

She knew it was exactly what Harry did not want her to do, but Brooke took off so quickly that staying in the room was out of the question. Not too far then, she told herself. Going down to the lake would have been her first choice if it wasn't for the inevitable Death Eaters and dementors lurking around there.

So she settled for a quiet stroll on the seventh floor, passing by the Gryffindor common room. Pausing for a second in front of the Fat Lady's portrait, she wondered if she could get inside.

"Ahem," Brooke coughed quietly.

The Fat Lady gave a start and gasped upon seeing her.

"What are you doing out so late?" she whispered frantically. "Get inside now! Before they catch you!"

And without another word the portrait hole opened.

Hurriedly she climbed in, alarmed at both the fact that almost anyone could get into the common room and that the Fat Lady didn't take a password in fear of a student's punishment.

The common room was empty though with everyone up in their dorms.

Brooke realized there were still students in there. Asleep or not, there were a lot more people in the castle than it seemed. As if the D.A. were Hogwarts only inhabitants aside from the teachers.

This was much bigger than the D.A. or Draco or even Harry, Ron and Hermione. Even though the D.A. were so willing to fight, there must be at least some kind of fear in each of them. They are all ready to die, though.

And for what?

She sat at the empty fireplace and thought, thought for the reason why so many people around her were volunteering their lives. For Harry, was the first to pop into her head. For ourselves, she thought next. So that we don't have to live under rule of Voldemort.

Brooke frowned. No, that wasn't right.

_We all want to die for each other._

That was it.

She stood up suddenly, hating herself for being here. While Harry was trying to put everyone else out of danger, here she was trying to hide.

She left. Out in the castle, seemed more active than when she had entered the portrait hole.

People were rushing, but not like a mob. No sounds, except the steps of feet that exuded urgency rather than panic. There was a clatter nearby and she cautiously, but quickly followed the source. Brooke's feet planted on the ground after making one turn around the corner.

There in the center of the corridor stood Ron and Hermione and it took a second to realize that they were entwined in each other's arms, immersed in each other's faces.

"Is this really the time?" asked Harry weakly.

The two broke apart, still in an embrace. Ron looked at Harry with a reddish glow.

"Sorry mate," he said, and looked back at Hermione. "But it might be the only time."

Harry turned to Brooke, "and where have you been?"

"Around," she replied, unable to take her eyes and smile off of Ron and Hermione.

A loud boom from somewhere in the castle broke her from astonishment and the reality of a war flew back into their minds.

"Ron and I went down to the Chamber of Secrets for Basilisk fangs," explained Hermione. She handed her what looked like a long yellowed claw that was chipped at the top, "to kill the horcruxes."

Hearing a battle blooming beneath them, Harry directed them in a running speed.

"And I know where Ravenclaw's diadem is," said Harry. "And we were right where it was since we came to Hogwarts. It's in the Room of Requirement, but we need to get everyone out of there first."

They finally came to the hall of the Room of Requirement and rushed into the room, only to find it much emptier than Brooke or Harry remembered. The final recruitments came through Aberforth's bar.

Augusta Longbottom, Neville's grandmother came in after Tonks and informed them that she sealed the entrance since Aberforth decided to come through and fight. Soon, she dashed out of the room.

"Tonks, I thought you were staying with Teddy," said Ron to the witch, who now had brown shoulder length hair.

"He's staying with his grandmother," she smiled. "I couldn't let Remus fight alone now, could I?" Then she left as quickly as Augusta.

With that said, Ginny raised her eyebrows at Harry.

"Ginny, we need to clear the room for a bit, but you have to come back in once we're done," said Harry. Ginny's eyes lit up, kissed Harry on the cheek and ran out the door with her wand drawn. "But you have to come back!"

The Room of Requirement was finally empty.

Once the door vanished, Harry stood back in front of the wall. "I need the place where everything is hidden."

In a few seconds, another door appeared.

The Room of Requirement had changed in a matter of seconds from a refuge to the large, cluttered and dusty hall Brooke remembered from last year.

"We'll split up and look for the diadem," said Harry, which sounded like a soft murmur engulfed by the room's vastness.

Unconsciously, Brooke followed the same path she had taken when she came across Draco and the Vanishing Cabinet. She wasn't sure it was the memory or the air in the room that made her shudder.

Strolling past what looked like a packrat's attic with aged furniture, broken cabinets with tattered books and hundreds of trinkets of which she couldn't guess its use. Nothing she saw, however, looked like a crown. There was a browning globe, a cabinet filled with large pieces of rolled up parchment, an antique robe draped over a wooden table and chair set, various toys and empty potion bottles, broken quills and old cloaks.

Brooke picked up a black polished pawn upon a scattered chessboard and sat down on a clean seat nearby. It seemed she had gone in circles, not even coming across Ron, Hermione or Harry, much less a dainty diadem. Standing up again, Brooke heard the echo of voices. It didn't sound like a friendly conversation. Slowly, her feet followed her ears and she pocketed the chess piece and gripped her wand firmly. A sudden crash and a high pitched scream made her shoulders jump and she stopped.

"Hermione?" she called. The voices were yelling and more bursts and clattering followed.

As if hearing her, Harry appeared from a corner. He grabbed her by the wrist and kept running.

Glancing back, Brooke found Crabbe, Goyle and Draco not too far behind them.

"How did they get in?" asked Brooke.

Harry didn't respond, but kept pulling for her to go in front of him as he shot spells at their chasers. He threw a table on its side and urged Brooke to take shelter there.

"Stupefy!" she yelled at Crabbe, but Draco pushed him out of the way.

She glared at him.

"Why don't you choose a side and _stay_ with it!" Brooke bellowed.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" shouted Crabbe. Brooke immediately ducked behind the table and covered her head as it split down the middle. When she could open her eyes, large splinters pointed at her face. Jets of light were crashing into the piles of junk, sending it toppling down.

"Seems like we can get two things done here," said Crabbe's heavy voice. "Kill Potter _and_ your girlfriend. The Dark Lord and your parents'll be ecstatic."

Brooke grew angry and impatient. Abandoning her shield, she fired jinxes as fast as she could.

"Brooke, no!" Harry shouted. Without giving time for her to refuse, her hand was clasped and she was hauled out of sight. They ran through tiny spaces, while Harry made everything crash down to close the path behind them.

"You can't run away, Potter!" cried a muffled shout. It seemed that Crabbe had suddenly become the talker of the group. However annoying it was when Draco was spoke for them, it was much more bearable.

They stopped in an enclosed space with a leaning pillar and many crates. Harry and Brooke had buried themselves somewhere in the clutter of the Room of Requirement and had shaken off any followers. They didn't speak, only listened for the direction of Ron and Hermione. It was difficult to tell since the room bounced sounds across its walls.

Nonetheless, the two kept pressing on.

"There you are!" sighed someone behind them.

Harry quickly turned around, placing one arm in front of Brooke and the other aimed right at the tip of Draco's sharp nose.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't have already blown off your pale untrustworthy arse."

"Hey, calm down," Draco backed away and held his hands to his shoulders. "I know I haven't been all that great in the past, but I would have thought you'd be a little bit more welcoming after helping you escape my house."

He received no response.

"I know I showed up with Crabbe and Goyle, but I'm still on your side, believe me."

"I'm not going to let you hurt her again," said Harry, raising his wand even higher.

"Hurt her?" Draco's eyebrows raised. "You're still going off that theory then, eh Potter?"

Then, Ron and Hermione, with clasped hands, ran straight towards them. Harry had forgotten about Draco and his arm fell to his side.

"Come back here you Weasley runt!" panted Crabbe as he jogged alongside Goyle.

There was a loud roaring noise that Harry, Brooke nor Draco could figure out. But there, growing behind the four, an orange glow emerged. A gigantic wall of fire raced towards them, running and growling. Brooke made out the face of a creature and fiery paws leading it forward, blackening with a brush of its touch.

They sprinted. Ron and Hermione were a few paces in front of them while Crabbe and Goyle lagged a little behind. It grew hot as the waves of fire beasts engulfed the room.

Coughing, Harry called Ron and Hermione and threw them one of the brooms leaning on a desk. He had already mounted the broom when Brooke looked behind her and found that Draco, Crabbe and Goyle had disappeared. Everything, now had an angry red orange tint.

Brooke was hesitant to climb on the broom without knowing where Draco was, but Harry pulled her on before she could even decide to run off. They kicked off the ground.

The flames were licking higher on the walls, threatening to make them part of its infinite appetite. Flying higher and higher, it seemed like the ground had disappeared underneath the nest of angry red serpents, dragons and wolves.

"Harry, let's get out, let's get out!" yelled Ron.

How they were going to find their way out was beyond Brooke.

A horrible scream was heard from below. Her heart stopped. She'd rather jump into the flames with him if that was…

"Harry, we have to go back!" Brooke urged. "We have to go back!"

He leaned forward, speeding up and made a sharp turn.

The light, smoke, and ash made searching nearly impossible for her. They swooped down without warning and Draco and Goyle came into view. He stuck his arm out and Brooke grabbed his hand, but it slipped out.

"IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'LL KILL YOU, HARRY!" bellowed Ron as they flew their broom towards them. They hauled Goyle's unconscious body in between them, while Draco climbed up behind Brooke. Both Ron and Harry darted upwards, narrowly avoiding the scorching tongue of a snake.

"The door, get to the door!" screamed Draco. He held onto her and the body of the broom. "What are you doing? The door's that way!"

Harry had swerved and flew downwards toward the fire.

Brooke squinted her eyes and saw his hand outstretched towards something, a small tiara.

She watched Harry's hand slowly close in on it, but was forced to close her eyes as a leaping beak bore at them. They made another sharp turn upwards and before Brooke knew it, they flew straight into a wall. She could breathe.

Drawing herself up, she automatically walked right up to Draco and punched him in the gut.

"What in the world was that for?" he grunted, doubled over.

"For nearly giving me a heart attack knowing you could've died twice in the past two days!" she shouted and quickly felt her cheeks grow hot as everyone stared at her.

Thankfully, Hermione broke the silence. "Harry, what's that around your wrist?"

"Oh," he said, holding it between his fingers. It began to ooze and then broke into pieces in his hands.

"The fiendfyre!" gasped Hermione. "One of the properties that can destroy horcruxes, but it's so dangerous, I never ever thought of doing it."

The sounds of a battle growing nearer called to their attention and their heads turned to the right.

"Why, hello Minister, have I mentioned I'm resigning?" said Percy, who was firing spells at a thin wizard with straight brown hair to his shoulders.

"You're joking, Perce!" laughed Fred. They were fighting side by side. "I haven't heard you joke since-"

Brooke couldn't see who did it, but she was suddenly flying in the air next to Harry and Hermione as the wall of the castle burst open. After a rough landing, her eyes could barely make out the shadows of her friends through the settling brown dust clouds. A few seconds passed and she found herself feet away from the jagged hole in the wall. Behind her, Draco was rising to his feet and brushing some dust off his shirt. Harry was in front of her, helping Hermione out of the largest pile of debris.

And from the two figures kneeling furthest away from her, she heard a cry that made her heart drop.

"No, Fred!" bellowed Ron, with his head bent low to his face.

"Fred!" cried Percy. His hands were shaking his shoulders. "Fred! No, please, no. Fred, please!"

But Fred didn't move. His face was pale and his bright red hair was tousled in all directions. Death lay in his eyes, but she could have sworn he was holding in a smile to play a practical joke.

After a few slow moving minutes, Ron shook his head, trembling. His voice was soft, but heavy with grief. "We can't leave him here."

So he, Percy and Harry lifted Fred's limp body and laid him slumped up on a pedestal where one of the Hogwarts knights once stood. They all stared upon him, wondering with a small hope that he would burst in laughter at how worried they all looked.

He didn't move.

Another loud boom jumped their nerves and they could hear the echoes of shouted curses and grunts of the fallen. Ron and Percy stood up suddenly and made to go help fight.

Hermione moved towards Ron and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Ron," she said, sniffling. "Ron, we have to keep going. We're the only ones who can end this."

His face was tense, staring eagerly at Percy running towards the battle.

"I want to help kill Death Eaters," he said through gritted teeth.

"Ron," pleaded Hermione, pulling him away. "We need to find the snake. It's the only way we can stop this from happening even more."

"The locket," Harry spoke up suddenly. "We didn't get rid of it, yet."

He looked at Brooke, who immediately reached up to her chest. Her eyes widened and she began to look around frantically.

"I just had it!" Brooke exclaimed. "It must have flown off when we exploded."

It wasn't under the broken wall near her or the window. Turning around to check nearer to the Room of Requirement, she saw Goyle, who had been so silent that they forgot about him. He quickly got to his feet and began running down the corridor. Swinging from a golden chain in his hand was the locket.

Immediately Brooke started after him, wrenching the basilisk fang from her pocket. "I'll destroy it! Find the snake!"

Goyle sprinted down the stairs as quickly as his beaten body could carry him. Brooke was about to transfigure when someone was calling after her.

"Brooke! Wait!" shouted Draco, running behind her.

"Not the time, Draco!" she cried in frustration. The stairs began to change as Goyle took a small leap down. Speeding up, she flung herself off the last step and landed front first on the edge of the next floor. Ignoring Draco's thump next to her, Brooke picked herself up and kept running.

"Stupefy!" she yelled and hit the middle of Goyle's back. He froze in place and fell, tumbling down the stairs.

Hurriedly, she pried his thick fingers off the locket's chain.

"Brooke!" Draco panted. He came at last to her side.

"Can this wait?" Brooke said impatiently. On the floor below them, Peeves flew cackling by, throwing dung bombs at one of the Death Eaters. Glass shards were tinkling to the ground, doors were being splintered, the walls of the castle were shaking as the brunt of the battle took place a floor below them.

She laid the locket on the ground and holding onto the fang, Brooke drew her arm back.

"Watch out!" Draco cried. He pushed her down and ducked just in time for a jet of purple to hit the corner of the picture frame where her head originally was.

Climbing up the steps was a black cloaked figure.

Wandless, Draco ran to knock him off his feet only to be hit by a bright blue light. He hit the top of the stairs and tumbled back down.

Brooke scooped up the locket, placed it around her neck and drew her wand.

"Protego!" she pointed and her temporary shield disintegrated the Death Eater's killing curse.

They battled on the stairs, managing to slowly make their way down and onto the ground floor. All through the corridor, and from the echoes, in the Great Hall, all of Dumbledore's Army, the Order of the Phoenix, and other Hogwarts students that were old enough were in tight duels.

With a swish of her wand, Brooke turned the Death Eater's hands into the talons of a raven, making him drop his wand. He struggled for a few moments only to fail in picking up the small stick of wood. She smiled in satisfaction and tilted her head to admire her work until she realized the talons were sharp. The Death Eater swiped at her arm, but fell into a body bind.

The talons made a long gash through her sleeve and into her flesh, but it was shallow.

"Maybe you should stick to stunning spells rather than getting creative for the moment," Draco joked, holding the Death Eater's wand.

Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, I need to talk to you," Draco continued as if they were chatting in the halls between classes. "I think Potter's gone a little more off his rocker under all this. I thought he was at least beginning to trust me."

"You know what? I don't think it matters," said Brooke. "Obviously, if you were going to kill me, you would've let that Death Eater do me in."

"Brooke, I don't know what you might have heard at the Manor, but you need to have a little more faith in me."

"_Faith in you!_" she yelled, then felt the Basilisk fang in her hand. "Okay, I do, whatever. But can we _please_ talk about this later? I'm a little busy at the moment, if you hadn't noticed." She added just to spite him. Then, she drew the basilisk fang, ready to strike it in the center.

Her arm fell swiftly down.

"No!" Draco shouted, reaching for the locket. His long fingers pushed the locket a few centimeters away, but Brooke now saw the Basilisk fang piercing between Draco's knuckles.

* * *

**A/N: Hello there :) I hope you all had an amazing start to 2012!**

** & I also hope you're enjoying the last few chapters of the story. Still in the works for refining, but it's all coming together, no worries. Thanks so so so much for reading. I'll be back for posting very soon, so keep a look out :D **


	18. Martyrs

I remember tears streaming down your face  
When I said, I'll never let you go  
When all those shadows almost killed your light  
I remember you said, Don't leave me here alone  
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight

The sun is going down  
You'll be alright  
No one can hurt you now

Everything's on fire  
The war outside our door keeps raging on  
Hold onto this lullaby  
Even when the music's gone

Just close your eyes  
You'll be alright  
Come morning light,  
You and I'll be safe and sound

**[Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars]**

* * *

Draco gave a horrible scream and was gasping. Brooke stared at her hand gripping the fang that was still sticking out of his hand. Horrified, she wrenched it out as Draco cried out in pain.

"I'm so sorry!" she gasped in shock.

"Why did you do that for?" he rounded on her.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Brooke shouted, still in panic. "You were the one who decided to put your hand underneath a Basilisk fang!"

"Why would you carry around a Basilisk fang?" he yelled. "I can't believe you stabbed me!"

"I said I didn't mean to. I was aiming for the locket, you git! This is basilisk venom! I-it kills Horcruxes for goodness sake!"  
"_Horcruxes_? What in the bloody hell's name is Horcruxes?"

"Hardly anything can kill a Horcrux," Brooke said to herself. "If it manages to kill those, I can't imagine what it does to humans."

"KILL?"

The venom began to work, already draining out the blood from Draco's pale hand. He started to shake and he seemed to be growing very weary.

"We have to get you help!" Brooke said, flustered. He already could not stand up on his own, holding onto her and moving around as if blind. She held him up with the locket around her neck and began running as fast as she could.

The hospital wing was either completely empty or completely filled with the injured from the battle. So Brooke wracked her brains for a cure of Basilisk venom.

Suddenly she remembered five years ago to when Harry had faced the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. Hermione told her afterwards that there were no other known cure that could have saved Harry. But where in the hell would she find another phoenix. Fawkes hadn't been seen since the night of Dumbledore's death.

They managed to make it to Snape's storage of potions. Brooke broke the door down and began searching for something. She didn't know what she was looking for, but she had to look. Maybe he had a stash of Fawkes's tears.

The small closet was soon wrecked.

"It has to be here somewhere," she said desperately, clutching onto a thin bottle of bluish purple liquid. Small vials and packages were strewn in every inch, but no tears.

"Brooke," Draco said, straining to sit up.

"I'll find it, okay! Just give me a second!" Brooke looked frantically in a pile.

"Brooke," he said again. "It's fine."

Brooke looked at him and knew that Draco was quickly dying. Her friends and enemies were still in a tight battle, so she pulled him out of the way into the back exit of Hogwarts. They made it out of the castle walls and headed down the pathway she used to take to go to the lake. The echoes of the war on the castle courtyard reached their ears, but it seemed a muffled noise from where they stood.

Her frustration grew tears. Nothing came to mind as how to save him. For the first time, Brooke understood Voldemort's desperation in his search for immortality.

But she sat him up against a small tree and held his hand.

"Brooke," he said faintly. His eyes were drooping and he looked ghostly white.

She sat now, facing him. Her face was wet and cold against the outside air.

"I don't know what to do," she said, shaking her head. "There's nothing else I can think of and the only thing I know will work is gone. And everyone's busy fighting, how I can I get help without getting caught in the fight or- or running out of time."

"Brooke," Draco said. "Look." He picked up her wand and cast a silvery figure in front of her. Within moments it pulled together the shape of an eagle perched up on the low branch above them.

"I can still cast a patronus," he smiled proudly.

Confused, Brooke looked at him.

"Here, you try."

"I don't get it," she said, somehow managing to smile a little.

Draco moved his shoulders in what looked like a small shrug. "Patronuses are nice to cast, especially at a time like this."

Brooke felt her spirits fall, hoping he was referring to the war instead of his slow death. She picked up the wand.

"I don't think I can cast one right now," she laughed helplessly, wiping her face on her sleeve.

"Think of something happy," he looked at her softly.

Despite how tired they looked, Draco's eyes still seemed bright with life. She couldn't figure out how he managed to smile. Then, Brooke felt her chest swell with memory. They weren't happy memories, but memories mixed with the bitterness of losing what was.

A silver tiger sprung from the tip of her wand and sat down in front of them. Draco's eagle moved its perch onto the tiger's shoulder. The two patronuses acknowledged each other and seemed to have reached an understanding. Then they were gone, headed into the sky before vanishing into mist.

"They have a mind of their own, you know," he whispered quietly.

Draco's breathing shallowed until they became struggled gasps. The wounded hand no longer shook with the rest of his body, but moved as a block of wood attached to the end of his arm.

There were many words flying into Brooke's mind that she could say, but it seemed unrealistic that in a few seconds Draco would be gone. She couldn't think of anything else but that.

So she clung onto him with no words spoken and wept.

Brooke had never felt a person die before, but she lifted her head from his chest. She felt his breathing lessen and he no longer was shaking. Holding his face in her hand, Brooke saw his eyes move and lock onto her.

He lifted his hand with the last bits of strength he could gather and pushed her hair behind her ears.

"No, please," she sobbed. "Draco! Please don't."

Brooke felt her tiger patronus nestle against her side and the eagle perch on her shoulder. A familiar cry took Brooke's eyes off of Draco and into the starless sky. The song brought her peace.

Brooke watched the bright red phoenix descend towards them and gracefully land on top of Draco's arm.

"Fawkes?" she murmured, wondering if she was this hysterical to imagine Dumbledore's pet flying out of nowhere.

The bird gazed at her.

He walked steadily down Draco's forearm and raised its head over his hand. Clear liquid fell from its eyes.

The blood slowly vanished and the open wound closed itself up, leaving no scar. Once any sign of injury could not be seen upon Draco's hand, Fawkes laid his eyes on Draco.

He began to stir with color returning to his face. His blinked like he woke up from a dream and sat up straight. Fawkes fluttered up to rest on his shoulder and put its feathery head gently onto Draco's forehead. The phoenix lifted its head, beckoned a call to the patronuses around Brooke and soared back into the sky.

Soon after, Brooke and Draco's patronuses faded into the air.

Brooke threw her arms around Draco and buried her face into his chest.

"You stupid git," her voice sounded muffled.

He held her for a few seconds before Brooke felt him unlatch the locket from her neck.

"What are you doing?"

"It's dangerous. Thing nearly got me killed," he said, holding it tightly in his palm.

"Well, I'm going to destroy it anyway. Now give it here," she held out her hand.

Draco gulped. "You can't."

"What are you talking about?" Brooke grew impatient. "Give me the locket, Draco."

"You can't destroy it," he said. "Not yet, anyway."

"What do you mean I can't destroy it? I don't think you realize how urgent this is. I need to get rid of it, _now_. Give it!" She lunged for his hand, but Draco pulled away.

"Are you out of your mind? I thought you finally chose to be on our side."

"Of course I'm on your side. If you just let me explai-"

"NO! No more explanations, Draco Malfoy. If you're on my side, you'll let me destroy that locket now. If not, then," Brooke pointed her wand at him, "I'll chose your side for you."

"Brooke, if you just listen to me-"

"Diffindo!" she swiped her wand at the branch directly above Draco.

He quickly dodged the falling branch. "Brooke, stop it!"

"Expulso!" she cried and the bench Draco moved behind blew to pieces.

Seeing as Brooke wasn't about to change her mind, Draco hurried into the castle. Following him, she began to blow up anything within five feet of him. There were still many Death Eaters, students and teachers inside the castle, but all looked weary.

Brooke, however, had one goal in mind: to destroy the locket. And to fail would put Harry's chances even lower.

"You're being a real stubborn pain in the arse!" Draco yelled, ducking from a spell.

Angry and impatient, Brooke transfigured and pounced on top of him. He caught her by the wrists and wrestled with her. She managed to kick her hind legs into his groin, making him let go of her arms. But he quickly grabbed onto her tail.

Brooke snarled and attempted to grip his arm in between her teeth.

Unconsciously, she transfigured out of her tiger form. Draco stood up and began to take off in the opposite direction but Brooke knocked him down with all her weight. She took the locket and as soon as she got to her feet, Draco slammed her into a wall.

"Let go!" she yelled, tugging onto the locket's chain.

"You let go!" he yelled back.

Brooke tripped on a large chunk of the castle wall and tumbled, still holding onto Draco and the locket.

They were a mess of kicking, pulling and elbows flying in all directions. Draco managed to take the locket while on top and pinned her wrists above her shoulders and against the ground. He wrestled her wand from her hand.

Unable to even move, Brooke glared, panting.

"Now just listen to me!" Draco shouted.

She hardly wanted to comply, but it was the only thing she could do.

"I'm not trying to save the locket or anything, okay?" Draco continued. "As a matter of fact, if this is what you need to finish this whole war, I'd gladly let you destroy it. But if I want to make sure my parents don't die when Voldemort realizes I've let you kill it, I need you to wait to destroy it until they're well out of his range."

"You're taking it to save your parents?" she asked.

"_Yes_," he replied. "And if you didn't so often jump to the conclusion that I'm evil little twit, you would've known that."

"But I need to destroy it, Draco," Brooke stated simply. "You do _not_ know how important it is to do this now."

"Then tell me instead of leaving me in the dark!"

"If this locket isn't destroyed, neither will Voldemort be!" she whispered angrily.

"But he knows you have it, Brooke," he said. "He knows about what you and I were looking for at Hogwarts a while ago and that you, Potter and them were headed back here. So he gave me the choice of coming to Hogwarts to steal the locket back and if he finds that it gets destroyed, I get to watch you and my parents die before he kills me."

"Are you not listening?" she snapped. "He could _die_ if you give me that locket and let me kill it."

"And it can't wait, why? All I'm trying to do is protect my parents and make sure that _you_ don't die under the Dark Lord's wand for possessing something he dearly needs."

"The longer we wait, the more people will die, Draco!"

"I have the chance to save my parents and you, Brooke."

"I don't want to be saved. But we have the chance to save _everyone else_," she scathed.

"Now you're being selfish," he seethed.

"Selfish?" she laughed incredulously.

"You wouldn't mind being a martyr, would you? Everyone would be more than grateful and you'd be a hero whether you die in this war or not."

"You think I'm doing this for glory?" her voiced reached a near shrieking level.

"No, but I'm at risk for death no matter who wins and I've decided since I got this stupid mark on my arm that I'm going to make sure you and my parents are safe. Because, Brooke, if you're life's in danger, I'm more than willing to give mine in exchange."

Speechless, Brooke stared at him, no longer struggling against his grip.

Draco released her and she sat up.

"If we don't get rid of that locket, we'll be risking the lives of so many people. Voldemort could win," she said, weighing out the outcomes aloud.

A cold voice made her nerves jump and Brooke looked around frantically. "You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery."

His voice was so clear, ringing around in her head. Draco could hear it too, trying to cut out the noise with his hands over his ears.

"Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately.

You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.

I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not given yourself up, then attle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."

Brooke felt a tiny spark of hope, knowing that at least, Harry was still alive. Then she turned to Draco.

"How will we know when your parents are safe?"

"If the Dark Lord is staying at the Forbidden Forest, I'm sure my parents will be close by."

"We can't go in there without talking to Harry," she said. "We need to find him first."

Draco looked anxious, but nodded. He gave her back the locket.

The two walked down the corridor, which now was quiet and nearly empty. Closer to the castle entrance and the Great Hall lay more people, some unmoving on the floor, some sitting down in clusters, and some carrying the fallen.

Daring to look at the dead bodies, a handful were unrecognizable with faces gruesomely torn. She guessed it was the work of Greyback.

Inside the Great Hall is where most of the bustling around took place. The four long tables were removed and small blankets were placed instead. A chorus of soft cries echoed in a mournful song. Madam Pomfrey was rushing from person to person while many others were trying to help heal any injury they could.

Coming into through the doors, Oliver and Neville walked slowly with their heads bowed. They carried the small body of Colin Creevey and laid him down with the others.

Near him, were Tonks and Lupin, lying side by side. They were still, looking peaceful.

In the middle of the Great Hall, Brooke could see Harry, Ron and Hermione. The warm relief instantly froze and her heart grew cold when she saw them and the Weasleys circled around one lain on the floor.

George grasped Ron and the two shook in tears.

The look upon Mrs. Weasley's face was one that Brooke never forgot.

Hermione ran to hug Brooke.

"We were all worried!" she gasped.

"Where did you go off to when I left?"

"We went with Harry to find Voldemort at the boat house. He killed Snape," she said.

"What?" Draco said softly.

"Why?" asked Brooke.

"The Elder wand wasn't working for him, since he wasn't the one who killed Dumbldore," Hermione said quietly. "He had to get rid of Snape in order to win the will of the wand."

"And the snake?"

Hermione shook her head. "He's keeping her by his side. Did you destroy the locket?"

Hesitantly, Brooke said no and tried to explain herself.

In reply, Hermione gave her a look of pity and understanding.

"As for your parents," she looked at Draco. "I'm sure they're all gathering with Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest."

"What's Harry planning on doing?"

"I'm not sure, but I have a bad feeling he's going to try to go into the forest."

"He'll die there," said Brooke. "And then what are we going to do?"

"I think he knows something he's not telling us."

"Well whatever it is, we at least can't let him go there on his own," Brooke said strongly and looked where Harry had stood. He was gone.

They scanned the Great Hall and outside in the corridors.

When they hadn't found a trace of him, they knew where he had gone.

Brooke sat down against a wall and put her head in her hands.

After a few moments, Draco sat himself down next to her.

"So, now what?" he asked the question she least wanted to hear.

"We have to destroy the locket, then."

"You said-"

"I know what I said, but if Harry's going to defeat Voldemort in the forest, we need to get rid of this locket first," Brooke explained.

"If Granger's right and my parents are with him, then-"

"He'll be too occupied when Harry's standing in front of him. And if Harry does manage to kill the snake and Voldemort, then there'll be nothing to worry about."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then we're all going to be in trouble anyway."  
"I don't think Harry's going to try to kill anyone," said Ron. "Think about it, he's going over there alone, when there's two horcruxes out there, to face Voldemort and probably every single one of his followers. I think he's just going to turn himself in so the rest of us have a chance."

* * *

**A/N: **Hey guys! :D The last one might be the last chapter, so look out for it coming soon! Keep reviewing & to those of you who always do, I dearly appreciate it. My day is always made when I read them. :) Hope you enjoyed this one & see you very soon!

ps. 'Safe and Sound' by Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars is amazing. Kind of obsessing over the Hunger Games lately. Definitely would recommend the books.


	19. The Skies

_All of these guards they stand tall and defensive_  
_Putting up walls around what was once innocent_  
_It won't let me in, but I'm stronger than that_  
_'Cause you stole my eyes and I've never looked back_

_Girl, last night I forgot to mention_  
_The way that I feel, the way that I'll remember this_  
_When we're this young, we have nothing to lose_  
_We just the clock to beat and a hand to choose_

_It's a long drive back to Vegas skies_  
_So I don't, I make one more wrong turn tonight, so_

_It's a long way down_  
_Just fall into place and you'll fall into me_  
_We'll make it out you'll see_

_And say goodnight, our first goodbye_  
_I've only got forever and forever is fine_  
_Just take your time_  
_We'll stop the clock together_  
_And know that the timing was right_

**[Vegas Skies by The Cab]**

* * *

The night paled into an ash colored sky. Brooke, Draco, Hermione and Ron stayed close together and helped as much as they could with minor injuries. Many people came up to them asking questions about where Harry had gone to or what they should expect if the worst happens.

They retreated into their own corner, no longer willing to talk to anyone else. The four hardly said anything to each other either.

"So what Weasley, mustered up the guts to ask Granger out?" Draco smirked at them as they held hands.

But he only grinned. "Yeah. It feels good to finally be with the person you were meant for. Shame you haven't done the same."

It succeeded in shutting Draco up.

Despite his ability to talk about something other than Voldemort, which the rest of them seemed to have a hard time doing, Draco seemed tense. He constantly glanced toward the Forbidden Forest.

Suddenly, Ginny and Mr. Weasley came into the Great Hall.

"They're coming!" warned Mr. Weasley.

"Who, Arthur?" urged Professor McGonagall.

"Voldemort!" said Ginny.

"And the remaining Death Eaters," finished Mr. Weasley. "Hagrid is safe and is walking with them."

With that, everyone poured out into the Hogwarts courtyard where Voldemort led his followers across the bridge. His pale, transparent face was glowing and he was smiling.

"Who's Hagrid holding?" asked Ginny, stepping forward.

"HARRY POTTER IS DEAD!" declared Voldemort loudly.

"NO!" Ginny cried and Mr. Weasley held her back from running towards him.

Hagrid's face was swollen and thick tears were streaming into his singed beard. Within his arms lay Harry's limp body.

"Stupid girl," spat Voldemort. "From this day forth, you put your faith in me."

Brooke had to squint her eyes and check to see if it really was Harry. It didn't register in her mind what Voldemort had said. Harry couldn't have been killed.

Her heart wouldn't let her believe that her best friend was never to wake. The only bitter benefit she could think was that Harry would never have to wake to the nightmare the Wizarding World was about to become.

"Harry beat you!" shouted Ron and the Death Eaters burst in laughter.

"Harry Potter _died_. He died running away, to leave you all here to face me instead. The war is over!" Voldemort declared with his hands raised. "Now, you will join me."

He extended his arm towards them.

"Never!" cried Brooke. "We will _never_ stop fighting you!"

She felt Draco's hand enclose tighter around her wrist.

Voldemort laughed in delight and his lit up. "Ah, Draco! I am to assume the one so carefully bound in your hand must be the one we talked about. Well, come now, join your parents."

In the front of the crowd behind Voldemort, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were gesturing for Draco.

"Draco," Lucius urged softly.

He wouldn't budge.

"Draco, come," said Narcissa, her eyes wide.

He shook his head, hesitantly but firmly.

The smile on Voldemort's face slowly dropped. His slitted eyes gazed curiously. "Very well," he said. "Then there is the matter of fulfilling the terms of your final task. What do you say, Draco? Shall we take care of business right here? Shall you be the example to show what happens when you betray Lord Voldemort?"

At the same time, Brooke, Lucius and Narcissa were jerked off the floor a couple inches. They floated, clutching at their necks, gasping for air.

"Brooke!" Hermione exclaimed. Voldemort let the three fall to the floor as Draco stepped forward.

"Good, good," Voldemort smiled. He placed his arms around Draco, who stood rigid. And Draco rushed to his father and mother to make sure they were alright.

Hermione and Ron helped Brooke to her feet and stood in front of her.

"Betrayals can be forgiven," said Voldemort, standing with his arms wide open. "Or they can be punished."

Then, Neville stepped up.

"It doesn't matter that Harry's gone," he said in a thick voice. "People die every day: friends, family. Yeah, we lost Harry tonight, but he's still with us, in here," he put his hand on his chest. "So is Fred, and Remus, Tonks, all of them. They didn't die in vain."

He turned to Voldemort and shouted. "But you will! Cause you're wrong! Harry's heart did beat for us, for all of us. And it's not over!"

From overhead above the castle, students, teachers, and death eaters looked to the sky to see a red phoenix sing. It flew closer down and from its clutches, dropped a ragged cloth into Neville's hands.

Voldemort laughed loudly.

"There will be no more Sorting Hat!" yelled Voldemort, setting the hat on fire and throwing it atop Neville's head.

It released an outburst from the castle side, swarming angrily with jets of light shooting before them. At the same time, arrows rained upon the Death Eaters from a hearty war cry near the forest. The centaurs sped down in organized ranks.

"No! We're not leaving!" Brooke heard someone shout within the fray.

She followed the voice and found Draco, pulling himself away from his father and onto Brooke.

"The locket! Where is it?" he asked.

Brooke unlatched it off her neck with one hand and led Draco towards the castle with the other. Lucius and Narcissa followed, screaming for their son.

Everyone was retreating into the castle, firing spell after spell.

Draco and Brooke ran to find a less occupied corridor and placed the locket down.

Brooke gasped. "The Basilisk fang! I don't have it!" She frantically searched her robes. "I must have left it when you got stabbed!"

"Draco! You come with us this instant!" Lucius bellowed, taking a hold of his arm.

"I told you I'm not leaving!" Draco shouted back. "We have to help!"

"We've fought enough of this war," retorted his father.

"On the _wrong side_, father! And you owe something to Brooke," he squinted his eyes accusingly. "We killed her father and we destroyed her house and I'm not leaving without her!"

Lucius was at a loss of words.

Then, Narcissa took her husband's replacement wand from his hands. She stood directly in front of Draco.

"Is this what you want?" Narcissa asked, staring hard into her son's eyes.

Draco nodded firmly.

"Be careful," she said, handing him the wand and kissing him on the forehead. Then she turned to Brooke. "Look after him."

Brooke nodded and gave a reassuring smile for although Narcissa spoke tartly, her expression was filled with worry and trust. Quickly, she and Draco sprinted through the corridors.

A nearby Death Eater had begun to stir from a stunning spell and at once, Brooke sent him flying out the window.

They dug through the rubble, hoping they were at the same corridor as before. Her eyes caught a slender object, too shapely to be a piece of blown off stone.

"Got it!" she bent down to pick it up only to feel a hot ray of light pass over her head.

Draco retaliated and began dueling with Avery Nott.

Brooke made to help out, but Draco shouted, "The locket first!"

Hurriedly, she found a good spot on the ground and got the Basilsik fang gripped in her hand. The tip of the fang struck the center of the locket, but nothing happened.

Horrified and wondering if that was all, Brooke examined the locket. Something was wrong. It couldn't have been the fake one, since she saw that melted on the floor of the Malfoy Manor. And it couldn't have been destroyed while looking perfectly normal.

Perhaps she had to open the locket, but Brooke always thought the latch was broken. Only a little more than an hour ago, did Ron tell her how they broke into the Chamber of Secrets.

She was desperate and decided to give her crazy idea a shot. Mimicking Ron's imitation of Harry's parseltongue, Brooke whispered to the locket in her hands.

Suddenly, it leapt out and opened on the floor. Two eyes were pictured inside with its pupils darting around crazily before fastening its glare directly at Brooke. The eyes grew red and from them spurt tentacles of black smoke rising to the corridor ceiling.

A cold voice from her memory spoke again. It brought back the feeling of ice cold waves swirling around her feet and the unbearable self hatred that would not cease.

"_Still alive?" it asked cruelly. "You could have escaped all the pain you've felt and will feel. And you're going to kill me? Kill and destroy the one who was trying to help you. You so dearly want to be happy, yet you keep bringing yourself into the wrong situations. Here you are, beginning to love again one who tried to end your life. You don't know much of him, do you? How he tipped off his father the address of your home? How he was the one who suggested killing Andrew Miller?"_

Within the shadows played out her father's cruel death as she had seen it many times in nightmares. The wizard at the other end of the casted curse turned to point his wand at Brooke and its face took the shape of Draco Malfoy.

Brooke knelt on the floor in awe at the scene playing in front of her.

"_You always thought I loved you back," it said in a lower variation of Draco's voice. "But too naïve to figure out that it was all a scam, too weak to let me go. If I helped destroy your house, what makes you think I didn't help kill your incompetent father? Such an easy target, you were. Distraught and broken. And no matter what I did, you would always still trust me. All it took was a little lie. A little phrase of three words that made you my slave."_

Three figures took shape behind him.

"_You are so stupid to have become infatuated with him," said a mockery of Hermione. "Anyone could have seen through his lies."_

"_We could have told you, but we wanted a free show," cackled Ron._

"_We really didn't need you anyway," said Harry. "You only got in the way. After all, Hermione's the one with the brains and Ron's my best mate. What are you?"_

Somewhere far away, Brooke could hear Draco yelling at her, telling her things she couldn't understand.

But she felt entranced and trapped in their words.

All four of the figures spoke at the same time, meshing their voices in a cacophonous chorus until it began to sound like one person.

They spoke, _"There's only one way out, Brooke…you know how to do it. The escape lies in your hand."_

"BROOKE!" shouted Draco as he watched her turn the Basilisk fang toward her abdomen.

"_You're almost there," said her father. "We can be together again."_

Draco's screams became louder and more desperate. He struggled to get to her while fighting Nott.

"_Do it, Brooke!" her father urged with more malice. His eyes grew angrier than she ever saw them and glowed with a tint of red._

The tension grew strong between the fang and her body.

"_Do it NOW!" said the voice, no longer sounding like her father, but with a high raspy of Voldemort._

"BROOKE, STOP!" bellowed Draco when she was finally within reach and his hand brushed against her shoulder as he fired a curse at Nott.

Brooke awoke from her trance and held the Basilisk fang in both hands. With all her strength, she forced it down onto the open locket. The glass shattered and the voices of the locket screamed one last time.

Before her was a broken locket, dented, cracked and blackened. A small dancing stream of black floated from the necklace. She turned to face Draco and saw Nott's unmoving body next to him.

Immediately the two entwined in an embrace, kissing deeply to feel every ounce of warmth in their familiar lips.

After what felt like hours and years and seconds, they were interrupted by the slam of Seamus body to the wall near them. Snapping back to the war, Brooke and Draco drew their wands, mirrored and parallel to one another.

"Stupefy!" They shouted.

She looked at Draco.

"Fight with me."

"It's what I do best," he said, with a smirk.

Brooke helped Seamus up and he went running to Dean's aide.

The castle was illuminated with spells, filled with shouts, crashes, crumblings, bangs and clatters.

Near the front steps, Ron and Neville were fighting Fenrir Greyback. Neville held the sword of Gryffindor, swinging it wildly. Greyback's skin seemed tough, with small lacerations from the blows he couldn't dodge. Behind Neville, Nagini slithered, ready to strike. But Neville wheeled around.

With one of his enemies distracted, Greyback was able to overtake Ron. Brooke ran, transfigured without thinking and leapt onto his back. Eight gashes ran down from each of her claws and the werewolf howled, backing off of Ron.

Draco and Ron wielded their wands and within moments of each other, Greyback fell to the floor bound in rope with his last rasping breath and in one stroke of the sword of Gryffindor, Neville severed Nagini's head from her slithering body.

Yaxley fired at Ron, inviting he, Neville, Draco and Brooke to join the fight against he and Macnair. Ron, furious and vengeful, ran to help George and Lee without another thought. Neville held the sword in his hand for a second, in amazement, before rushing off himself. And as Brooke and Draco followed inside the Great Hall, the wand in Brooke's hand slipped out before she could turn around.

Behind her, Dolohov smirked and fired another. She threw herself out of the way, avoiding the bright green curse.

"Crucio!" yelled Draco.

Dolohov dodged.

Running towards them was Lucius with Narcissa trying to catch up to him.

"Are you out of your mind?" Lucius bellowed at Draco. He was clearly beyond his wits at the sight of his son aiming to torture his father's old friend. But Draco continued to fight fiercely.

Then, Brooke and Narcissa gaped.

Lucius aimed a curse at Draco.

Taken off guard, Draco only scraped by Dolohov's curse.

"Lucius! No!" Narcissa shouted at her husband.

Brooke shrunk down into a crouch and dove into the fight. Her claws aimed for Dolohov. She missed, landing back on the floor. The two prowled in a circle. With no wand to use, Brooke had to rely on her Animagus.

If only she could get rid of his wand, her natural strength would make it an easy battle.

Then, Dolohov fired.

Brooke flattened on her stomach, reducing herself to human size and back again in an instant. She charged and managed to bring him down. Brooke pawed at his wand arm, while trying to keep him on the floor.

Dolohov tried fighting her off with a small sharp chunk of wall.

A snarl emitted from her mouth as he jabbed the rock deep into her upper back.

Disregarding the sharp stinging in her flesh, she locked her jaw onto his other hand. Instantly, he let go of the wand.

The wand rolled only a couple feet away from them.

In their struggle, Brooke knew it would be an easy kill.

She felt all the anger of her father's death building up in her muscles. In Dolohov's eyes lay not only fear, but an undying will to keep fighting her.

Not taking another moment, Brooke dug her claws into Dolohov to use him as a launching point towards his wand. The second she touched the wand, Brooke transfigured and stunned Dolohov before he could stand up.

Her eyes were drawn to the wooden stick in her hand. She recognized the 11" beech wand, most likely with a dragon heartstring bound in its core.

The nerves in her back were firing crazily and she could no longer bear to move her left arm. Sitting on the floor, Brooke raised her wand arm carefully.

"Accio," she said, grunting as the rugged rock pulled itself out of her skin. At her surprise, the wand did its work smoothly and quickly and now falling into her hand was a jagged flat piece of the castle wall with blood staining.

With only a springing wish in her mind, the wand guided her hand in an exquisite swish. To her surprise, her skin began to knit back together.

"THIS IS ABSURD!" Narcissa screamed in frustration.

It was obvious that Lucius was a more experienced dueler, even as both he and Draco's borrowed wands were compromised. Draco's wand slipped away and his father cornered him.

"Expelliarmus!" Brooke shouted, reaching to catch Lucius's wand.

"Silencio!" someone nearby yelled, shutting up whatever was going to come out of the Malfoy boys' mouths. Narcissa stood on Brooke's opposite side, holding the wand she gave to Draco.  
"We will have _no_ more of this," she said calmly.

Taken aback by the sudden authority Narcissa held in her presence, the two Malfoys obeyed and let go of each other.

Brooke ran to Draco, who held her closely.

A exclamation of joy and shock echoed in the Great Hall and Brooke almost believed Voldemort had been defeated if she didn't see him still standing in the center, alive.

In front of him, however, stood Harry, back from the dead.

Then everyone was silent, watching Harry and Voldemort.

"I don't want anyone else to try to help," said Harry firmly. "It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."

Voldemort laughed.

"Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good."

"You think it will be you, do you?" hissed Voldemort. "You believe you know more magic than I, Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of?"

"I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore!"

"You didn't have him killed. He chose his own manner of dying. Severus Snape wasn't yours. Snape was Dumbledore's from the moment you started hunting down my mother."

"It matter's not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore's. I crushed them as I crushed your mother. Dumbledore was trying to keep the Elder Wand from me! But I got there ahead of you, little boy- I reached the wand before you could get your hands on it, I understood the truth before you caught up. I killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny is truly mine!"

"The wand still isn't working properly for you, though is it? Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore. Dumbledore intended to die undefeated, the wand's last true master!"

"But Potter, Dumbledore as good as gave me the wand! I stole the wand from its last master's tomb! Its power is mine!"

"You still don't get it, Riddle, do you? Holding it, using it, doesn't make it really yours. The Elder Wand recognized a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realizing exactly what he had done, or that the world's most dangerous wand had given him its allegiance. The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy."

Shock showed clearly on Voldemort's face.

Brooke automatically looked up at Draco, only to see his brow furrowed. His mouth was slightly open as he stared at Voldemort.

"But what does it matter?" Voldemort said. "Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: We duel on skill alone…and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy…"

Instinctively, Narcissa stepped silently, but swiftly in front of her son and Brooke clutched onto his arm and the wand more tightly. The two only relaxed when Harry spoke.

"But you're too late," he said. "You've missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took this wand from him."

"Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does…I am the true master of the Elder Wand."

If the hall could fall more silent, it had. And everyone laid their eyes on Harry.

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

"_Expelliarmus!"_

Instantly, the room filled with light as they watched Harry and Voldemort's spells meet. The whole castle seemd to vibrate, to burst with ringing of the clash.

Harry reached his arm high and caught something in his hands. The Elder Wand.

And there lay the remains of Lord Voldemort. Without the glare in his eyes, the ghostly sway of his black robes and a cruel smile upon his face, he looked weak and pitiful.

Once again, the air stood still, absent of any noise.

As quickly as it had fell silent, the Great Hall exploded with screams of joy, and hearty cheers. Some stood as statues, in near disbelief that finally, Lord Voldemort was dead.

Brooke, Hermione and Ron bolted towards Harry, embracing him tightly. Luna, Neville, Ginny, Dean, Seamus, and all familiar faces, tattered from battle gathered around Harry.

She looked into Harry's eyes and gave his hands a final squeeze before letting everyone get to him.

No one understood what anyone was shouting, but they all shared in a catharsis that seemed to burst into the whole castle.

"Harry. Harry. Harry! HARRY! HARRY!" George, Seamus, Dean and Lee Jordan chanted loudly. The D.A. were whooping and hugging one another.

Hermione was wiping her face with her sleeve. There were no words they could exchange, only a look and the tightest embrace. Brooke felt like time was fast forwarding with everyone around her moving about, with a newfound energy and relief.

Draco stood with his hands in his pockets.

He noticed only now how relaxed his muscles felt. He could breathe again. The Great Hall felt overflowing with emotions. No one knew what to do with themselves. Among the broken windows and the holes in the castle, people were crying in joy. They were laughing with each other and experiencing something that had disappeared for as long as anyone could remember.

He smiled, watching her from across the room. Her eyes were glistened with tears and she laughing.

Within the bustling crowd their eyes met.

Brooke looked at him. His eyes were tired, but bright and vibrant.

She walked straight towards him.

"I hear you were once an Elder Wand master," Brooke said coyly.

"So I've been told," he shrugged.

They laughed and he took her hand. He guided her towards his parents. The Malfoys looked awkward and unsure of how to present themselves. Standing with his parents and Hermione, Ron gave her a smile and a nod as she and Draco passed by.

Lucius coughed and wasn't staring directly at Draco or Brooke.

Narcissa hugged her son. Then she turned to Brooke.

Brooke felt inclined to say something, but she didn't know whether to tell them to feel welcome or that they were lucky that Draco ended up fighting against Voldemort.

"You have put my son in more danger than if he listened to us and left," said Narcissa prudishly. "But I suppose I should thank you. It has been much too long since I've seen him this happy."

Brooke raised her eyebrows in surprise and Narcissa gave as much as of a warm smile as she could give.

Lucius coughed and wasn't looking at any of them.

Brooke had some choice words to say to him, but she bit her tongue.

Very soon, Draco and Brooke decided to talk elsewhere. Narcissa smiled at her son again, more likely in relief of his safety.

The Great Hall was much more settled, but still chattering and bustling about. Neville was sitting down with the sword next to him, talking with Luna. Brooke caught his eye and gave him a small thumbs up as he returned the favor.

She and Draco sneaked out of the castle and made their way down to the lake. Exhausted, they sat down and took a lungful of the cool air.

Brooke studied every detail in the wand she was holding.

"Was that from Dolohov?" he asked.

She nodded.

"What are you gonna do with it?"

"Well, I doubt I could find my wand after all this," she said. "And if I did, it's probably in splinters by now. But I think I would have broken this into two if I didn't know it originally belonged to my father."

Draco furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"This was his?"

"Yeah," Brooke laughed at her own lucky coincidence. "I'll miss my blackthorn, though. I'll bet you miss your wand, knowing it was the single most powerful wand in existence."

"Better with Potter than with me," he said. "Though, that explains why it took me little to no effort learning all those spells last summer."

"Good thing you learned how to summon a patronus."

"Good thing your father wrote that theory."

"What were you hoping for anyway?" She asked. "When you summoned your patronus and made me summon mine? I mean, we knew they had some kind of strange property, but to know that they could possibly save your life?"

"But I did know. As I was slipping into unconsciousness, I felt my patronus communicating with me, telling me that the cure wasn't too far away. That it was so close that with another patronus to help, it could find it and bring it to me."

Brooke pursed her lips.

"Or I just thought it would cheer you up and I got lucky."

She gave him a playful shove.

Draco was mindlessly playing with her fingers.

"Speaking of near death experiences, where _did_ the ring go?" he asked. "If you weren't wearing it that night, where was it?"

Brooke shrugged. "I hadn't taken it off, so it must have fallen off. It's somewhere in the castle then, if someone hadn't already taken it."

"It's been a year, so I'm sure someone must have come across it."

"Yeah, hopefully it didn't fall into the wrong hands."

"You're always thinking the worst of me."

Draco grabbed her hand. She felt something else lying between their grasp. Something small, smooth and cool to the touch.

Brooke held it in her palm, the black ring she lost a year ago.

"How did you…"

"When you took me back to Hogwarts," he said. "It was just lying in a corner near the Room of Requirement."

"I'm not going to need it though, right?" she said jokingly.

"Well, I don't know. I'm a pretty dangerous guy," he smirked.

"Thank you," she said, admiring the ring on her finger.

A thought sprung to Draco's mind, wondering if this would be the only ring he'd give her. He smiled to himself, took her cheek gently and kissed her.

Brooke kissed him again, giving into a guilty pleasure both had suppressed. And for what, she thought. They could have been together this whole time and it was only luck that both survived the war. The very close possibility that she would have been mourning Draco's death at this moment pulled her in closer to him. And feeling his lips smile upon hers kept her there.

"What do you suppose we'll do now?" he asked. Their foreheads were pressed together and Draco weaved his hand to the back of her head.

The wind kissed their faces, light and almost melodic as they looked into the skies. They were open with the wisps of clouds departing for the sun to rise. Open and bright were the skies, welcoming them to the days without shadow.

"Anything."

* * *

**(a note about the song "Vegas Skies")** I have been in love with this song for a while & to my surprise I saw Alex DeLeon's explanation of the meaning. To my surprise, it matched Brooke and Draco's story. If you want to read it-**It's pretty lengthy, but a good story-**, it's right here:

_"Vegas skies is about a beautiful young girl named Logan Elizabeth._

_I was in high school, and being the spontaneous little kid that I was, me and my buddy Matt decided to leave town. So we packed our bags and headed to Laguna. I know most of you probably associate Laguna Beach with the reality show with the over dramatic girls arguing over who kissed who and who's nails were what color and when they were done. But to be honest..I find that painfully sad. Laguna is an incredibly beautiful little beach town; filled with character, history, and fun. Just when I thought the little beach town couldn't be anymore beautiful…I met Logan. She was amazing. Amazing smile. Turquiose eyes. A laugh more memorable than any song I had ever heard. But there was a problem…she was with another guy. We talked..and I knew immediately that she was one of a kind. It broke my heart that she was taken…but I respected it and a few days later I left Laguna…with nothing but the memory of her. I never forgot about that smile. Not once._

_When we talked in Laguna..she would tell me about how unhappy she was with everything. Her life..the cruel, pompous guy she was with, and may other things. I wanted to save her. I wanted to be there for her. My heart was broken into a million pieces when I found out she couldn't be mine. But I stayed strong and never forgot about her. This girl made me laugh, smile, and smile some more. I felt like I was a better person having met her and spent a few days with her. Logan was my miracle, and I was determined to wait as long as it took, forever if I had to, to call her mine._

_When things get hard for me…I write songs. This time was no different. I wrote the chorus first… I told myself that I would wait forever for her. I would wait until it was our time to be together…and I did wait. For a few years. That's what the lyrics "I've only got forever and forever is fine."_

_When you're in love… Forever is nothing. To wait forever for love is no time at all..because when it finally does come, it is met with the most breathtaking feeling imaginable. If you haven't felt what love and to be loved feels like..then you're missing out on the best this world has to offer. So the words "I've only got forever, and forever is fine. Just take your time" were just saying that I would wait as long as it took to be with her. You can't give up on love, because I promise love will never give up on you. It didn't give up on me…_

_Years later I saw her again, and this time..we weren't going to leave each other's side. From there it was history. Waiting for love, had paid off and it made me the happiest boy in the entire world."_

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**A/N: So. ****The last chapter. ****It was strange finishing it up, since it's been my baby since sophomore year when I first got the idea to write it. I just want to say thank you so much to those of you who have been reading and following and reviewing. & a thanks you can't imagine to those who have followed from the very start and who have been reviewing and reading no matter how long my hiatuses were. You know who you are & I can't put into words my gratitude to you guys.**

**And from what we've learned through the release of the last Harry Potter book and the last Harry Potter movie, even though it's the end of the story, it doesn't mean its _the end_.**

**Please review on the chapter and the story as whole and whatever else you feel like. Personally, I wish I could go back and rewrite it all to fix up the mistakes and everything I wanted to improve on because I know there are many things I'd change. Also, the fight between Harry and Voldemort was a summary of quotes from J.K. Rowling's actual dialogue, since I found no reason to change it. Same with Neville's speech from the movie. I loved it, I just couldn't touch it.**

**But thank you again & don't forget to review.**

**Remember, I've been sticking pretty well to the story line J.K. Rowling set, so maybe you'll see me again, very soon ;) Just keep an eye out.**


	20. Amare et Tueri:  Ninteen Years Later

Up and down, the bed began to bounce and voices burst into her ears. It managed to wake her in an instant. Her eyes were tired and still closed, but her mouth formed a smile.

"I thought I told you to take the animate charm off the alarm clock," she groaned through the laughter.

"I did, love, just last night," says Draco's tired voice playing along. "Shall I hit the snooze button?"

She hears him sit up and a muffled fit of giggles accompany the kicking and screaming. Brooke opens her eyes and laughs, watching Draco tickle Scorpius and Atria.

"We just…wanted…to wake you," Scorpius gasps between laughs, "Or else we'll be late!"

Brooke laughed and smiled at her son. He had Draco's pointed chin and slim nose, but his blonde hair and skin were much more toned down. "We're not going to be late, I promise."

"If you are late though, they'll make you boat across the lake by yourself. But I hear the Giant Squid's been more friendly nowadays," said Draco seriously and Scorpius's mouth dropped open.

Then he gave it a quick thought and declared, "I can handle it."

"But just last night you were telling me how you were scared of what weird monsters might be around there," Atria recounted, wrinkling her ridged nose. Unlike her older brother, she had Draco's striking platinum blonde hair with grey eyes. And the features of her face including the ridged nose and defined jaw made her look like her mother.

"Your father's only joking," Brooke reassured. "Now go make sure you haven't left anything in your room. We'll have breakfast ready in a second."

Despite his haughty declaration, Scorpius's brown eyes eased to know he won't have to face the Giant Squid to start off the school year.

As he and Atria left the room, Scorpius said loudly, "Just wait until you go to Hogwarts. I'll have them set the Giant Squid on you, Attie!"

"If he's got your genes, he'll actually do it," sighed Brooke.

Draco stood up and stretched. "I'll be the proudest father if he does manage to tame and control that thing."

"I do hope you're about the Giant Squid and not Atria," joked Brooke, throwing their blanket more neatly on their bed.

"Today's the big day, think you're ready for it?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she said. "I'll just make him write to us every second."

"He'll be fine," Draco said, walking over to hug her.

"I know, I know."

"And think, we'll have one less prowling around the house. More time for just us," Draco pulled her into a kiss.

"That would be nice," she said contemplatively with her eyes still closed. Then she opened her eyes and softly hit his bare chest. "But for now, we need to make breakfast."

The bags were packed into the trunk and Scorpius stood at the front of the door, holding his new grey owl which he named Perion.

Out of the car pulling up on their curb, stepped a tall woman in black and purple. She strode to hug Scorpius and Atria.

"How are you, my darlings?" she beamed at her grandchildren.

"Morning mum," Draco greeted her with a small hug.

"G'morning Narcissa," said Brooke in the same manner with a half hug so as to not disturb the sleeping baby in her arm.

"And little Gemma," said Narcissa, gently touching the baby's soft black hair. Gemma was born with much lighter hair and skin, but it quickly darkened.

"Hello father," Draco said stiffly with a handshake. Lucius made his way to Narcissa and Brooke, now having a use for his long black cane. He and Brooke acknowledged each other with a nod and Brooke could tell he was as relieved as she was to not have to embrace what with Gemma asleep.

After the war, it seemed Draco would never forgive his father. Brooke, on the other hand, soon felt indifferent. Anger was tiring. Lucius had been tried for a couple years in Azkaban, but was pardoned, not due to wealth or connections. Instead, Draco and Narcissa's actions in the final battle saved him.

Their relationship warmed up, but only barely.

It wasn't until the birth of Scorpius did the two come to civilized speaking terms. And that was the first time Brooke's mother and sister came face to face with Draco's parents. It probably wasn't as bad as Brooke had thought, but it felt like she was sitting with a ticking time bomb strapped to her chest. Luckily, nothing blew up.

"How was the drive?" she asked Lucius.

"Easy," he replied with his hand on Scorpius's shoulder. "Could have saved the trip if we came by Floo."

"We didn't want to get ashes all over the place," explained Narcissa. They all knew that she was the one that didn't want her outfit be messy with ashes. Brooke couldn't blame her. The ashes were easily brushed off, but Brooke could never shake off the feeling of dust in her hair after.

Their conversation was cut very short as Lucius and Narcissa had prior engagements to attend to.

They had arrived at King's Cross and Scorpius was up ahead with Atria.

Gemma was awake in her mother's arms, curiously taking in the sights and the sounds of King's Cross Station. Her bright grey eyes were particularly interested in the whistling red train that was on its way to Hogwarts. She was cooing and stretching her small arms toward it like it was a giant toy.

"Oh, I'm going to lose it once you have to leave home for Hogwarts," Brooke kissed Gemma on the cheek. The baby girl giggled.

Atria turned around and ran back towards them. "Mommy! Where's Hugo and Lilies?"

But before Brooke said anything, Ron and Hermione came into view, calling their names.

Draco greeted them and Scorpius was talking to their daughter, Rose. Atria immediately ran over to Hugo.

"Good morning, Gemma!" Hermione said, waving a finger already grasped in Gemma's hand. Brooke said her hellos and gave into Gemma's fidgeting, who was trying to get to Ron.

"I don't know why all the kids love me," Ron unenthusiastically. He then proceeded in baby babbling conversation with Gemma.

"Hi Auntie Brooke," Rose hugged her.

"Hello sweetheart," she smiled. "Are you ready for your first year at Hogwarts?"

Rose nodded her head excitedly.

"Scared to death is more like it," sneered Scorpius. He ruffled the top of her hair.

"Scorpius is manifesting reflective thoughts onto me," Rose whispered loudly, undoing her braid.

"We all know where that comes from," muttered Ron.

"And we all know where Rose's brains _doesn't_ come from," retorted Draco.

The two laughed and started talking about the Quidditch game they were going to see that weekend.

Hermione helped Rose redo her braid.

Lily and Hugo were chasing each other around a nearby pillar.

Brooke turned to Scorpius. "You should be nicer to Rose. After all, you'll be spending all year with her."

"I'm not going to hang out with her all the time," said Scorpius. "I see her enough as it is."  
Brooke shook her head and bent down to kiss his forehead.

"Lilies!" Atria called, running to hug her. Ginny and Harry followed behind their children, James, Albus, and Lily.

"Morning!" called Ron.

"Good morning," they smiled back.

"Glad to see you could make it," said Ron.

"Are you kidding?" replied Harry. "James was literally pulling us out the door once the clock hit midnight."

"Same with Rose," said Hermione. "She couldn't sleep for hours."

"Last chance to board the train, Brooke," smiled Harry.

Brooke had gone straight into continuing her father's work, researching and experimenting with Patronuses. Written in dedication to her father, she had a few articles published. Eventually, she had a transfiguration textbook and earlier in the year, McGonagall had asked her to teach at Hogwarts. It was a very tempting offer and Neville, who taught Herbology, was trying to convince her.

Brooke laughed and shook her head. "And leave Draco to take care of two girls?"

"The office is quite cozy and I'm sure they'd love to travel," replied Draco.

"The only sights they'd be seeing is what the inside of other Ministries looked like," chuckled Ron.

Harry and Ron tried to persuade Draco into Auror training with them, but he kept declining, unsure of the Ministry's response to his family name. The very day he finally agreed, Ron and Harry took him to the Ministry of Magic, but Draco disappeared only to return with a job in the Department of International Cooperation.

They stood around the train station, just chatting and saying their greetings to familiar faces. And before they knew it, the train was ready to depart.

Scorpius picked up his luggage and Perion's cage.

"Scorp," called Draco. "Not going to say goodbye?"

He rolled his eyes and smiled. "Goodbye father," Scorpius said, hugging his dad.

"Remember to talk to McGonagall about your training schedule," said Brooke, kissing her son goodbye. "And don't forget to write us. We want to know what Animagus form that tail comes from."

"Of course, mum. Bye Attie," Scorpius waved, sticking out his tongue while his sister returned the favor. "See you, Gemma!"

"And try out for the Quidditch team, alright? We'll send Caleb to deliver your broom in a couple days."

"Yes, dad."

"And be nice," Brooke added, as Scorpius was heading towards the train doors with Rose.

"Albus, come on!" he turned his head.

"Hold up!" Albus called back, hugging Harry and grabbing his bags.

They watched their son board the train to Hogwarts and out of a nearby window, popped out the heads of Scorpius, Rose and Albus.

"Wish we were getting on that train again, huh?" said Ron.

"Seems like just yesterday," replied Hermione.

The Hogwarts train made one final horn before the wheels began to turn. Billows of steam filled the air and they watched their children leave.

"We're still on for dinner after the game on Saturday?" asked Harry, still waving his hand.

"Of course," said Brooke.

"Mum's been trying to teach Hermione how to cook," said Ron, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"It's definitely not one of my better strengths," said Hermione.

They looked at the train for one last time and smiled.

Draco put his arm around Brooke's waist and Gemma was playing with the ring on her finger. It now wore a white diamond arrangement in the middle of the silver framing. Instead of a sinister curse banging itself against the black marble, written in shining light were the words _Amare et tueri, anima mea tua sunt._

_To love and protect you, my soul is yours__._


End file.
